Withhold your vote on May 5
... there is another way!

Up to 20 million people may decide not to vote at the general election on May 5. The turnout by 44 million potential electors is predicted to fall even further from the record low of 59.4% in 2001. Only four out of 10 young people voted last time - this figure is expected to fall still further.

Some voters will have anti-war, anti-New Labour candidates they want to support like George Galloway or MPs like John McDonnell who has consistently opposed this government. But the vast majority of voters will not have this option. Perhaps as many as half will, therefore, choose to stay at home on polling day.

Abstention on the scale forecast would amount to an unprecedented rejection of the existing political system and what passes for democracy in Britain.

Why you should withhold your vote on May 5

People clearly want a say in their lives but feel frustrated. A recent survey by the Electoral Commission showed that two-thirds of the public (67%) want to have a say in how the country is run, but only 27% at the moment feel that they do have a say. Voters are right to withhold their support on May 5 because they are effectively disenfranchised:

• earlier generations won the right to vote as a means to changing society and improving their lives. But corporate and financial power now has a stranglehold over the democratic process
• key decisions are taken by appointed bodies like the European Commission or global unelected bodies like the World Trade Organisation. They enforce free-market economic policies.
• the current political system is blatantly undemocratic. For example, only one in four of all voters endorsed New Labour in 2001 yet they won a huge majority
• the House of Commons is a farce and has no independent power. It endorsed the Iraq war and backed authoritarian measures against civil liberties and is the government's poodle
• all the major political parties stand for more or less the same thing. Why vote for the Tories when you've got New Labour?

New Labour - a big business government

New Labour in particular has contributed significantly to the undermining of the democratic process. The Blair government has followed on from Thatcher and created a presidential-style regime which takes its cue from global business. That is why it allowed MG Rover to collapse. New Labour's policies have ensured that:

• the rich have got richer and the rest poorer. Millions struggle on low wages and run up debts to make ends meet and one in six children live in poverty
• vital public services like the NHS are dominated by bureaucrats and business interests rather than the needs of the sick
• state pensions have lost much of their value while thousands have seen company schemes collapse
• asylum seekers, refugees and travellers have become scapegoats, especially for housing shortages which New Labour has created
• Britain has become a major target for terrorism - thanks to New Labour's illegal invasion and brutal occupation of Iraq
• we have lost many civil liberties while 'terror suspects' can be put under house arrest on the say-so of ministers
• Britain is more polluted than ever while the global ecological crisis reaches crisis point as politicians wring their hands

There is another way

Whatever the outcome of the general election, we will still live in an unequal, undemocratic Britain with a government that puts corporate interests first. The right to vote was won in the teeth of fierce opposition by the ruling classes in struggles stretching over hundreds of years. It is up to us to take action to renew the right to vote so that it means something again.

A World to Win has proposals for extending democracy in new ways and creating a political system that people can control in a direct way. Our proposals would:

• bring democracy to the workplace, giving those who create and consume goods and services shared ownership and control
• put people in charge of their own lives at local as well as national level, through Assemblies representing different community interests
• tackle climate change by careful use of resources through a not-for-profit production approach
• free culture, sport and leisure from commercial control and make them accessible to all.

On June 4, we are launching A World to Win as a campaigning movement after the election to build support for these proposals and fight to make them a reality. Whether you vote on May 5 or not, join us in building A World to Win. Together we can create the massive change needed to make your vote count for something again.

Help launch A World to Win on June 4