How do I vote in a secularized European country?

[DomusAurea]

First, let me apologize – I know you’ve dealt with these kinds of issues a lot. And yet I cannot find an answer to my question since you, for obvious reasons, tend to use American examples. I’m also sorry that the question is so long – I don’t know how to ask without explaining some things about my country.

I live in a European country proud to be among the most secularized democracies in the world. Election is coming up this September. We have roughly nine political parties big enough to make it into parliament. None of them fits my list of non-negotiables. There are two parties that claim to stand for “traditional values” – one of them is racist, right-wing, extreme, the other is not. I used to vote for the second party but about three years ago they “liberalized” the abortion laws even more and made it possible for Irish, Polish, and Maltese women to have free abortions in my country.

In this country, you vote for a person and a party. It is possible for me to vote for a terrific politician who fights for the unborn in parliament even as I’m writing this – but voting for her means voting for her party. And they betrayed the Christians of this country with their new abortion law. They keep the “traditional” politicians on their lists to win voters like me, and then spends four years doing everything I didn’t want them to do. If they’d lose their place in parliament they could perhaps be shocked into bettering their ways.

I had decided to vote blank because that way you show up in the statistics, so it’s better than not voting at all. But I’m finding that decision hard to live with. There are some truly scary people leading parties in my country, especially one who has made it very clear that he would like to close down Christian schools. He has also said that he doesn’t see the point of having religious freedom as long as people have the right to speech, organizations, and press. Their views on abortion, euthanasia, discrimination legislation, etc., I hardly have to describe. If his party wins, he will be a government minister.

What to do? I’d be so thankful if anyone took the time and trouble to read all this and give me some advice!

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

I am hesitant to give specific advice because, as an American, I have no experience with parliamentary systems and, in any case, I cannot presume to tell you who to vote for (either candidate or party). I can only tell you that you should read Catholic Answers’ Voter’s Guide for Serious Catholics with an eye to adapting the moral principles outlined in that booklet to the political system you must navigate in your own country.

For example, one of the principles is that you may not vote for any candidate and/or party because you support abortion or other crimes against human life and the traditional family. But you can vote for a candidate and/or party either because they are better on the life and family issues than the opposition, or because you want to do what you can to prevent the graver evil of an even worse candidate and/or party achieving an office or gaining power. Or, if you cannot bring yourself to vote for a candidate/party that has betrayed human life and the traditional family and think it prudent to do so, you are free to abstain from voting for that office. You should still vote for whatever office or measures you can, but you do not have to vote for every office on the ballot to do so (assuming that is provided for in your country’s voting procedures).