This is important. If you read one thing on this blog, make it this.
Wooooahhhh no wait, I see you there. Leaving because I did a politic. No no no. This is not politics. This is just dealing in definites. Let me explain.
If you’re really into politics, you should probably make sure you vote.
If you hate politics, people will still tell you you should vote.
If you’re indifferent really, people will get annoyed first, and then tell you how you should vote.
But listen pal, here’s a secret.
I don’t care if you vote.
This is not a political statement, urging you towards the line of politics I think is the “correct” one. You can get that all over the place. Mights, shoulds, woulds, coulds, mays (Mays) and etc.
I do not care about all of the options on offer. I am a can do person. And the thing is, once you’re registered, voting becomes a thing you can do.
(by the way, if you’re a ‘yeah, I’m going to do it pretty soon, when I have time’ person, just ignore the rest of this post and do it now. You have time, it literally takes 5 minutes, I’ve just done it)
There are a few things which prohibit you from voting. You can’t vote if;
- You’re under 18 (gutted kids)
- You’re a member of the House of Lords (if you’re not sure, I really don’t know what to say tbqh)
- You’re an EU citizen (something something Brexit laughter)
- You’re in prison
- You literally can’t be trusted near an election because of fraud ‘n’ stuff
Now I accept category 1 here covers quite a lot of people, but really, this is 5 categories of can’t. That is just not a lot of categories guys.
If you don’t fit into the above, you can vote! But only if you register. If you don’t register, then you can’t vote, which is basically forcing yourself into one of the above categories. You’re essentially making yourself a child or a criminal. Or a member of the House of Lords but with literally none of the perks.
What do you need to register? Glad you asked. Your own name, where you live, and your National Insurance number. If you don’t know it, your mum probably has it written down. Give her a ring, she loves hearing from you anyway.
Once you’ve registered? Do whatever you like, frankly. Vote or don’t. The point is, once you’ve registered, you CAN. **
**To all the annoyed politics people, I get that you'd prefer me to tell everyone they need to vote, but that's your job. I'm just trying to make sure that less people you try to convince end up not actually being able to join in.*** ***It's a public service really.