It's easy to be careless, especially when we take so many things for granted; we lose our phone, so we buy a new one, break our ipod, and claim on insurance, rip our favourite top, and just get another.

Votes, however, need to be looked after a little more carefully. They were fought for and they mean more than we think. In some countries, freedom to vote is a luxury, not a right. Corruption, fraud and intimidation are characteristic of elections throughout the world, from the Philippines to Zimbabwe to Guatemala. People in the United Arab Emirates have no right to vote at all.

The recent European elections show how reckless people can be with their votes. Two BNP members now represent Britain in the European parliament. This means Britain is represented by a party that believes this:

"The British National Party stands for the preservation of the national and ethnic character of the British people and is wholly opposed to any form of racial integration between British and non-European peoples. It is therefore committed to stemming and reversing the tide of non-white immigration..."

And this:

The BNP's answer to violent crime is to allow every household to have a gun. This idea was put forward in the BNP's 2005 general election manifesto.

Did people realise who they were voting for? If they did, it's pretty scary that people in the UK believe the BNP are the right people to represent us. If they didn't, they really should have found out.
 

People knew what they wanted to vote against, but didn't know what they were then voting for. We need to stop taking our voting rights for granted and become more informed about who's running our country and representing us.

If you want to make your voice heard, there's a petition against the BNP representing us in Europe .

Photos: Flickr user mia!, cartoonstock.com