Vote!

I've just voted.  It's been 4 rather eventful years for me since the last general election and I've not physically voted in a Polling Station in that time - either I've been out of the country or I've done a postal ballot.  But a general election is important and I wanted to go an do it properly.

Strangely I feel proud to have done so, proud for a variety of reasons.  At the top of the list is the shear importance of what it means to be able to vote, to actually take part in the process of government, however small a contribution a single vote is.  People have and are dying for the ability to vote and people have fought for the right in the past so that I can stand and put a small cross on a piece of paper.  Think about it; it means something.

I'm also proud of the way we do things here.  We're a small country, physically, but the system is elegant - it took minutes to present my polling card, collect the ballot paper and vote - fortunately we've no local elections here this time around for some reason though there are else where (I suspect this is something to do with being a Unitary Authority) - it's a strange and somewhat naive way of doing it.  But the fact that by 3(ish) tomorrow morning we will have an *actual* rather than predicted vote is something I think we ought to be proud of too.

If you are a British Citizen living in the UK then get out and vote or shame on you!  Regardless of who wins.