Think that #dogsatpollingstations is the best bit about any election day?
Can't get enough of pictures of pooches posing outside of polling stations?
Looking for a doggy antidote to the 2017 Elections?
Welcome home.
If you want to skip the waffle and jump straight to pictures of cute pups supporting democracy, click this button:
Moments before 11am on Thursday 7th May 2015, @innocent tweeted a picture of 3 handsome hounds waiting outside a polling building. The hashtag? #dogsatpollingstations. A barking mad British tradition was born; the world became a better place.
Within minutes, the pooches of Britain were answering the call. By the end of the day #dogsatpollingstations on Twitter was the only election news worth talking about.
Since that first tweet, pictures of dogs at polling stations have been a key fixture of the British electoral process. Canines have even been photographed supervising postal voting. Many thousands of people have shared snaps of their pups tagged with #dogsatpollingstations on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Elections can get heavy. Candidates make bold claims and talk trash about their opponents. Campaigners hit the streets, tirelessly trying to persuade voters to return their parties to parliament. The news is consumed by political bickering for weeks and weeks. However, at the end of it all, there’s a real treat in store.
When polling stations are open for general elections or UK wide referendums, British news agencies are strictly prohibited by law from reporting on campaigning, election issues or controversies relating to the poll. "Coverage will be restricted to uncontroversial factual accounts, such as the appearance of politicians at polling stations or the weather" ... or the appearance of adorable dogs next to polling stations signs! This means that we get more dogs and less politics: definitely a good thing.
British canines have had a lot on their plates recently. Some have had to drag their bone idle human companions to the ballot boxes many, many times over the last 3 years! A lot of British voters are, at best, apathetic about voting. This only adds to the notion that pictures of dogs at polling stations are by far the best thing about election day:
The best thing about #GE2017 will be the #dogsatpollingstations pictures pic.twitter.com/UcOit6fvp7
— Trudi (@Trudski2012) April 23, 2017
Can I just remind everyone that the best thing about another looming election will be when #dogsatpollingstations returns!!
— No (@CountFord) April 23, 2017
On the plus side, the snap election means the return of #dogsatpollingstations, and that's good for the entire world.
— Just Jackie, I guess (@brkgnews) April 22, 2017
It’s not just posing puppies - donkeys, cats and other animals have been getting involved too.
Although a mainly British phenomenon at the moment, #DogsAtPollingStations is beginning to spread. Democracy on four paws is making its way around the world! However, the 2017 Bundestagswahl (German Federal Election) may be #DogsAtPollingStations's biggest moment outside of the UK yet!
