Letter: End of polling booth indolence

End of polling booth indolence

Sir: What should be compulsory in elections is not voting but attendance at the polling booth (Letters, 5 May). One may respect the deeply-held convictions of certain religious groups who take no part in secular government, but it is quite a different matter with people who do not vote because they cannot be bothered. Those who tell canvassers, "You're all the same" or, "I don't know anything/ enough about it," or, "I'm not interested in politics" (ie I'm superior to you), are just avoiding the responsibility of members of society in a democratic country to choose their own government.

They would be free to put a blank paper into the box, but they ought not to be free to avoid their citizen's duty in a democratic society just because it is inconvenient to face up to their own indolence, ignorance or irresponsibility.

Councillor MARTIN KYRLE

Eastleigh, Hampshire