Registering to vote

[Jack_Roberts]

I have never registered to vote and I hope to never have to register to vote. Living in London UK I have lived in various regions around London and I have always got the form through the post requiring that I register to vote. In the past I have simply ignored the letters and nothing has come of it. But recently I have been getting the letters at my current address. They are addressed to the legal occupier. It says on the letter that I legally have to register to vote and I could (will) be fined up to £1000 for not registering to vote. I will try and scan this document and upload it, so that you can all see how threatening the letter is.

My objections to registering to vote:

1. I am an anarchist, I am against the state and democracy, why would I want to register to vote?
2. For security reasons, the government uploads the list of registered voters to the internet, so that everyone in the world can access the names and addresses of everyone on the list. I try and stay out of databases generally, especially publicly accessible ones.
3. Pro statists always say that democracy is voluntary because you can choose if you want to vote or not, In the uk they say that as well but you have to register. What is the point of registering if you don’t have to vote, what is the real purpose of the database? The state is selling it to private companies.
4. In my opinion signing the voting register is indirectly giving my consent to the democratic system and I am signing a contract by signing the document that says I am a willing participant. This is why I refuse to sign the document.

I was wondering what your experiences were with registering to vote in your respective countries, is it illegal not to register, did you register before you were an anarchists, do you get fined for not registering and so on?

[JoshE]

Less than a year ago I registered to vote for the first time since 1992. The only reason I did so is to vote for Ron Paul.

Registering as a republican is not recommended. Because of it I now receive flyers from the Republican party who seem to operate under the delusion that I am one of their fellow bloodthirsty psychotics. They can be summarized by watching old German newsreels from the 1930’s. And of course I get letters from Mittens, which I toss into the garbage unopened.

By registering to vote I am also at risk for being called for jury duty. I’m supremely confident that any prosecutor and judge would drop me from the jury pool like a hot potato, although I would have to waste at least an entire day if I showed up for selection - so I’m hoping I don’t have to find out.

Was it worth it? Well, I sure as hell wouldn’t do it again - once was enough. On November 6th I’ll write in Ron Paul. Or maybe “Donald Duck”.

[Aristophan3s]

2. For security reasons, the government uploads the list of registered voters to the internet, so that everyone in the world can access the names and addresses of everyone on the list.

What?

What is the point of registering if you don’t have to vote

To prevent people from voting over and over and over again…

what is the real purpose of the database? The state is selling it to private companies.

And private companies sell information to the government, so?

In my opinion signing the voting register is indirectly giving my consent to the democratic system and I am signing a contract by signing the document that says I am a willing participant. This is why I refuse to sign the document.

This is a joke, right? You still pay taxes, right?

Is signing your name on a paper somehow more empowering to the state than giving them money?