Voting Matters

dpetrieblog

Apr 28

With everything else that's going on in the world it's easy to forget that there are elections across the country next week. We all get the chance to vote in local council elections next Thursday.

Turnout in local council elections is always on the low side, rarely getting much above 35 per cent and often much lower than that. I've spent a lot of my career working in local government PR and the widespread voter apathy towards these elections continues to be a source of great frustration to me. I've lost count of the number of conversations I've had with people who tell me that they don't vote because councils are "boring" but then go on to moan about the poor state of the roads, or library closures, or the lack of school places, etc.

Generally these tend to be the same people who talk passionately about the need for more police officers on the beat, more teachers in our schools and more resources for the NHS; but don't want to pay a single penny more in tax. Where do they think the money for public services comes from?

Here in Glasgow we will be electing our councillors using a form of proportional representation instead of the first past the post system used in Westminster elections. The Single Transferable Vote system is a little complex, especially if you are using it for the first time, and I do wonder if it might well deter some people from voting. I am a little surprised that neither the Electoral Commission nor the main political parties have made much of an effort to explain the system to first time voters.

In fact I am also a little surprised at the somewhat laid back approach which the political parties seem to be taking to the elections. I live in a ward which is a Labour/SNP marginal, yet the only communication I've had from either party is a few badly produced leaflets stuck through my letterbox. No canvassers have rung my doorbell and I haven't noticed any electioneering in shopping centres and other public spaces.

Whether you like your local council or not, it does provide many of the services that we all rely on, such as refuse collection and street lighting. If you don't like the way these services are being delivered, you have a chance to do something about it next Thursday.

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