WHY would someone want to spoil their vote?  What message does this pass to the potential winners?  What message does this pass to anyone really?

These are some of the questions that I am pondering.

To me, the purpose of a general election is for the people to exercise their vote on who they want to be their representative in Parliament. 

The key phrase here is “to exercise your vote” which basically means to choose who you want as your elected representative.

By choosing not to vote, or by choosing to spoil your vote, you are basically saying that you don’t care who your elected representative is and by extension, you don’t care who forms the government. 

And if you extend it even further, you basically don’t care about your country.  That is how I see it and granted, I could be taking a very simplistic view, but really by not exercising your vote or by purposely spoiling it, you are taking an even more simplistic view.

Let’s look at how an election works. Someone decides he wants to run for a state or parliamentary constituency – to be the candidate for that seat. 

To basically be your voice or your representative in the state legislature or federal Parliament. If no one decides to stand in the same seat, then that person wins the election unopposed and you don’t get a chance to vote. You don’t have a choice on who your elected representative will be.

When two candidates stand for the same seat, you now have a choice. Something you wouldn’t have if there was only one candidate. 

By and large, you would opt to choose who you wanted as your representative and by and large, if you really didn’t like either candidate, then you would choose the candidate that you liked more. 

The lesser of two evils perhaps. Then there is, of course, the option of spoiling your vote or just not turning up at all to vote. 

By doing this, however, you are basically saying that you don’t care who your representative is. You don’t care what happens in your constituency. You are then basically giving up your right to have representation at the state or federal level.

If you really felt strongly that neither candidate was worth their salt, why not stand for the seat yourself and campaign to have yourself elected rather than campaigning to get people not to vote? Surely, you would be able to make more of a difference then wouldn’t you?

Some proponents of the “spoilt vote” campaign argue that if there is a sizeable amount of spoilt votes, it sends a message to the powers that be that the people are not happy. Really? 

As far as I know, even if there are 99% spoilt votes and only 1% votes for a candidate, he/she still wins the seat. He/she still becomes the elected representative. Nothing will change by spoiling your vote other than making your vote count. 

I supposed the basic premise is this. If you are happy with the status quo or you feel that there is no point in change or that there is no hope for the country even if there is a change in government, then stop complaining. 

Accept things as they are and go on with your life. Quietly. Don’t bother with trying to make a difference and don’t try and sway the rest of the people who want to exercise their right to vote.

As I see it, it is your responsibility to vote. It may be your right not to vote, or it may be your right to register a spoilt vote but by doing so, you are basically being part of the problem and not part of the solution. 

By foregoing your vote, you are giving up your right to have a choice and your ability to make a choice. Deciding not to make a choice is in itself not a choice. It is just evading your responsibility. It is the easy way out. And to me, if shows that you don’t care. – January 24, 2018.

* Dharm Navaratnam reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.