Votes for women! (if over 30, property-owning and not insane). Yes, another British blog post about voting. First, here is my asiatic lily:

|


Everyone else seems to be blogging about voting yesterday: Jon at Rogue Semiotics was bright and early at 8am, whilst jag over on Route 79 was an 8pm type. I bucked the trend by voting at 9am, but that was due to oversleeping thanks to the Lurg. I'd really be struggling if I'd failed to spot the school right next to me had become a polling station overnight, but just in case I somehow missed the wonderfully bold Impact font reading POLLING STATION, the LibDem's managed to waste yet another piece of paper by shoving yet another leaflet through my letterbox informing me that it was the day to vote.

I don't have anything particular against the LibDems: in terms of the major parties in this country they are currently the least offensive. Unfortunately, my local party seems to think the best means of campaigning is to send out a two page newsletter every month, filled with photos of their local chaps pointing at uneven pavements, park gates and closed post offices. In the last fortnight, however, they have used several trees in attempting to secure my vote. My recyc bin is filled to overflowing with unwanted paper. So their ecological credentials are severely tested.

I'm still trying to decide if I'm an extra special target for them - I even got a photocopy of a handwritten letter from their candidate, stuffed in an addressed envelope - because one of their candidates lives over the road from me or because I have a small Labour party poster for the Save West Exe campaign in the window. And an anti-Son of Star Wars CND poster. So maybe even the LibDems have me flagged as a bit of a Leftie.

The real shock was inside however. The ancient metal ballot box had been replaced with a plastic bin. I was so startled I asked the officials who assured me that the metal boxes still exist. I want them back. Somehow putting your vote into a black plastic box feels worryingly like throwing it in the rubbish bin.