Some thoughts for First Time voters...
Hey, so lots of you are voting for the first time today. Yay! Hopefully you're on the Electoral Register and ready to go... you would have received a little white A5 'Official Polling Card' in the post with your name, address, and local Polling Station on it, but if you don't know, call your local council.
If you're not sure what to do, its dead easy! Just grab your polling card (don't worry if you've lost it, they'll just ask for your name & address) and take it to your local polling station (usually a school or public hall... I'm going to Bromley Road Infant School) between 7am and 10pm... hey you could go right now!
Once there, go to the staff sat at a wee little table, give them your rard/details and they wil hand you one ballot card with the names of all the candidates/parties on it. Take this to one of the sneaky little polling booths that will be there (like little airport phone booths) and read all the instructions on the card.
Then just drop and X next tot he Candidate you want to vote for, go back to the staff and drop the card in the ballot box on their table. Done, sorted, no fuss!
Annnyway... who to vote for.... hmmmm.
Well, many of you watched the debates and may have been swung back and forth by that. Some of you came with me to the hustings and grilled potential candidates and may have made up your mind there. But if you're still undecided (or dare I say, decided regardless of looking at any literature..grrr) then here are some helpful places you can look to make an informed choice.
> Compare Policies Easy here: http://www.pocketpolitics.co.uk/compare/start.html
This website allows you to pick the parties you want to look at and compare them on individual policies that you care about.
> Beckenham Profile here http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat-profiles/beckenham
If like me you're in Beckenham, this webpage will give you the names of all the potential Beckenham candidates. Google their names and look at their views.
> Another key thing to do is look at Party Manifestos. These are documents that incude all the major promises, ideas, and policies of a particular party. They're usually nearly a hundred pages long - so I suggest reading the introduction pages which outline the basics, then flick to the back where there is an index of policies and read up on the key policies that concern you the most.
You can find these manifestos here:
> Liberal Democrats: http://www.libdems.org.uk/our_manifesto.aspx
> Conservative: http://www.conservatives.com/Policy/Manifesto.aspx
(other parties manifestos can be found at their websites)
Hopefully by looking at these you can vote with your consciousness and not be as influenced by the TV and spin thats all around. Remember no one needs to know your vote - so vote whichever way you please.
And try not to be influenced too much by 'clever voting' - i.e. voting for someone you don't like to beat someone you don't like more. Or voting to avoid hung parliament or wasting votes. - These can be important but really at the end of the day you should put your X by the person and party you feel best supports your interests.
Remember to pray! Wait on God, ask Him to give you wisdom and His plans for Britain. Remember Rom. 13 tells us to submit to those in authority and 1 Tim 2:1-4 tells us to pray for our leaders so that we as Christians can live with peace. So make God the key player in your decision!
Finally, please please please remember to vote! This is so important! If we truly want to influence this country and our leaders, and be involved in securing the spread of the Gospel in the UK then we cannot not vote. Prayerfully have your say, chip in your X, and drop it in the box. Ask God to take that vote and make it count for the spread of His good news!
I'll end with CCB's verse for the year:
"Pray for us, that the Word of God may spread rapidly, and be honoured wherever it goes."
