WHAT IF VOTING CHANGED EVERYTHING?

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© 2018 Plastic, 45 x 30 x 30cm
Exhibited: 'Represent!' People's History Museum, Manchester 2018, 'Take Back Control' Crypt Gallery, London, 2019, 'Flag of Convenience' Stockport Art Gallery, 2019. Upcoming: 'Political Art, Krakow Museum of Contemporary Art, 2022.

 

A Perspex ballot box fitted with a paper shredder, which destroys voting papers as they are cast. The box is transparent, making a mockery of the idea of a secret ballot. Shredded voting papers form a Union Jack Flag inside the box, the lid of which is engraved with the Coat of Arms of the British Government. The box is padlocked, but the lock is also transparent, so easy to pick.

The right of ordinary men and women to vote is seen as central to the idea of modern Western democracy, yet it has only existed for a century. Once the right was won, people began questioning if having the vote is the same as having political power. Today, with globalisation, people are asking how much power national governments really have. But some of those in power see voting as as a threat and meddle in elections.

Many voters have become apathetic, turnouts in some elections are very low. There is a widespread cynicism that “all politicians are the same”. In the 19th Century, American Anarchist Emma Goldman was credited with saying:

“If voting changed anything they would make it illegal”.

But the surprising result of the Brexit vote in the UK, and the unexpected election of Trump in the USA, means relatively small numbers of votes may have changed everything.