Review – Clare O’Dea’s Voting Day

I wrote a review Voting Day, by Clare O’Dea, for the Mechanics’ Institute Review:

Voting Day reminds us that the vote is a fundamental component of democracy which should be available to all. Sadly, there will always be someone who wishes to take away our right to vote or, in the case of Voting Day, not grant it in the first place.

They will claim that a particular demographic is too feeble-minded to choose wisely. They will suggest that certain people do not know enough about the background to an issue, are not educated to a high enough level, are not vested enough in the community or country to warrant being given the choice. They cite voter fraud as an excuse to put barriers in the way of demographics they wish to disenfranchise. Or they gerrymander the constituencies to co-opt more seats to their own cause, or they rig the result, as First Past The Post does, so votes cast for unelected candidates have little meaning. And we, as a society, let them do it because we might not see how the issues affect us, or because we might think all politicians are venal and corrupt, or because we believe we have more important things to do with our time than vote, or we think the decisions that control our lives are better made by entitled people with historic agency. But voting is integral to our place in society, and we must guard it, fervently.