James Ogley

Ballot Boxes by Flickr / kitoy

Today, we are asked to vote for Police and Crime Commissioners (well, most of us are – in London, this role is done by the Mayor).  It is expected that this will be one of the most poorly supported elections in UK history with an expected turnout of around 20%.  This is down to a number of contributing factors: Lack of awareness, apathy and not wanting politics to be involved in policing being the three main reasons for people not voting today.

So, let’s tackle them in turn.

Firstly, lack of awareness.  Done.  If you’re reading this, you’re now aware of the election.

Secondly, apathy.  The person elected will have the power to appoint (and sack) your local Chief Constable.  For that reason alone, it matters.  They will also have influence over policing priorities and how budgets are allocated.  I don’t think we should apathetic about any election but this is one where the impact on local communities can be seen.

Finally, not wanting politics involved in policing.  I agree with this.  In an ideal situation, we wouldn’t be having these elections.  We don’t live in an ideal world: we have a Tory government.  However, this is not a reason to not vote.  Actually, it’s very much a reason to turn up and spoil your ballot paper.  Not voting tells the government that you’re not interested, spoiling your paper tells them you object to the process.

But!

Because of the expected low turnout, what we might call “Undesirables” are hoping to steal victories in some regions.  The British National Party (BNP) and the “British Freedom Party” – a front for the English Defence League (EDL) – are standing in places where they feel they might have a shot if ordinary, law-abiding, diversity-appreciating British people of all backgrounds fail to cast a legitimate ballot.  Do not let them achieve this.  If you have a candidate for one of these groups (or the UK Independence Party – UKIP) on your ballot paper, please, please, please vote for one of the other candidates.