Do you vote? Does it matter?

I used to canvas around some of the least affluent areas of the ward I represented and I never once heard the excuse that elections were only for the rich. A lot of my supporters were women from the big council estate.

I always vote and encourage other to do so, I did persuade OH that he should take part but he too is now full of apathy and of the 'nothing changes whats the point?' brigade. I remember my grandparents getting dressed up to go the polling station when I was small, and I rather feel its carrying on their example to do so even I sometimes would like to tick the 'none of the above' box.

In Australia it is compulsory to vote and I think it should be here too. However I agree there should be a box for "none of the above".

So far I haven't received anything about the Police Commissioner election, I don't even know who is standing! Looks like I will have to look it up on the internet, but there are many people who don't use the internet, so may not vote because they will not know what the various candidates stand for.

Possibly lily but I think it goes deeper than that, its something that has come through the generations, in mining villages its was always the Men in the family who seemed to take the lead, and its as though some of the Woman in North East need to realise that they can make a difference.

Maybe because they can't see anything happening locally?

absent that runs through a lot of area's in the North East... Women more so than Men, they feel its down to others to make those decisions and that their opinions are thought to be worthless.

No it wasn't laziness or apathy. It wasn't that they couldn't be bothered. They genuinely felt that they had no role to play and that none of it had anything to do with them. The all felt that elections were only relevant to rich people – by rich I think they meant middle class i.e. people who owned their own homes, for example.

It's laziness and apathy.

I was very shocked talking to some people at the time of the last general election. All women, they ranged from twenty something to forty or fifty something. None of them voted as they reckoned elections were just for rich people. I still don't understand why they thought this, but nothing I said – and I can be quite persuasive – convinced them to go to the polling station.

The problem is that if you have the right to vote you also have the right not to vote. However this should be a considered choice not bone bloody idleness or apathy. Everyone should be obliged to attend the polling station or take part in a postal ballot but there should be a box at the bottom of the ballot paper that says 'I choose not to vote for any of the candidates'.

I believe it is a civic duty to vote and, as a woman, I feel a special responsibility because it was such a prolonged struggle for women to get the vote in the UK. However, as far as electing MPs is concerned, the system is so flawed that I might as well not bother because I live – and have always lived – in a "safe seat". It's only the floating voters in the marginals who have a real effect with their votes.

anno I think the politicisation of the police is all wrong too. I have no idea who is standing and what they are standing for locally. I shall probably find out via the web and, in the end, go and vote but I strongly suspect that the turnout will be very low.

I would make voting compulsory. People in this country don't realise how privileged they are to have universal suffrage. Not sure about lowering the age for voting, though if we can catch them young, before they get completely cynical, political parties might have a new lease of life.

Next month we are to have the election hardly anyone has heard of: for locally elected police commissioners which, personally, I think is a foolish politicisation of the police service, though I shall vote.

I never miss placing my vote, it was hard fought for by strong women and we would be dismissing them not to use our Vote.

I agree - voting is very important. However, I always remember my grandfather telling me that politicians only lie when they speak so bear that in mind whenever I read the election literature that comes through my door, if you don't vote you can't complain about whoever gets in.

My brother is totally the opposite he always says he doesn't vote because it only encourages them!

Gosh, yes, I care. Passionately. Even though I go with Ken 'If voting changed anything, they would have abolished it'. However, I think that extending the franchise to such young people is a nonsense. With rights come responsibilities and in law they are still juveniles.

I've always felt voting should be compulsary - after all, you can always spoil your voting paper - but it would flag up the importance Of it, and as a citizen I think everyone has a duty to participate even if their individual influence is vanishingly small.

My grandmother was a suffragette and I think it is tragic that what they fought for has so quickly faded from the general consciousness.

Yes it does very much to me but not my DH. I am afraid. I boringly consider it a hard fought for privilege and I think we have become either too complacent or disaffected by politics and sadly society to care about it.

I remember looking at the queues of people in Libya and Egypt at the time of their ballots and thinking if only we were the same.