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Romanians queuing to vote in Portsmouth

(10 Posts)
POGS Mon 17-Nov-14 17:46:41

Did you see the photo of the Romanians queuing to vote in their countries election, in Portsmouth. It is thought up to 10 thousand would be voting according to an official at that polling station alone.

I don't know why but I found it quite an amazing sight.

Would the British take the trouble to que to vote? I don't think so, sad isn't it.

ninathenana Mon 17-Nov-14 17:59:32

Wasn't the point of the article to show just how many Rumanias are in the area.
Your right though can't imagine queues for our polling stations.

KatyK Mon 17-Nov-14 19:28:44

Not just Portsmouth. There were thousands queueing around the Council House in Birmingham City Centre yesterday to vote. I would imagine this was going on in most British cities yesterday.

durhamjen Mon 17-Nov-14 20:28:08

Only where there are lots of Romanians living.

Ana Mon 17-Nov-14 20:31:22

Yes - not every British city has a huge population of Romanians!

KatyK Mon 17-Nov-14 20:42:51

Yes of course. What i should have said was that they were probably given the opportunity to vote in every city.

soontobe Mon 17-Nov-14 21:06:11

Would the British take the trouble to que to vote? I don't think so, sad isn't it

I think sometimes one way then the other on this.
I do think that if most citizens of the UK thought the current situation was terrible, people would actually bother to vote.
That is what seems to happen in those countries who start to have the choice of a proper democracy, after decades of not having one because for example, they had a dictator.

rosesarered Mon 17-Nov-14 21:36:17

Once the novelty of voting wears off [when a country becomes a democracy] that's when the turnout becomes low.

jinglbellsfrocks Mon 17-Nov-14 21:41:27

I'm sure the Brits would join a queue. If they really needed to queue to vote.

durhamjen Mon 17-Nov-14 22:25:53

They probably wanted to vote because most of them could remember what it was like living under Ceausescu.
The Scottish people certainly queued, with 85% of them voting.
The Romanians could only vote at embassies or other places where they had been given permission, not just any city. Portsmouth was busy because there are a lot of Romanians living in the area. People had to go there from miles around.
In Paris there were riots because there were so many people who did not get the chance to vote before the embassy closed.
It would be good if we had that many people voting next year.