Applying for a Postal Vote: Deadline Tuesday 20 April

If you are wanting a postal vote for the election on May 6th you have until Tuesday 20th to apply. Although as I have said before don't leave it to the last minute apply early to give the registration time to query any issues there may be with your form.

20th April is also the last day to ensure that you are actually on the register to vote.

If you live in West Lothian council area you can visit their website here for more information. If you live in Falkirk council area you will want to visit here

Forms for postal/proxy votes can be downloaded:

Falkirk
West Lothian

But remember time is running out to get your vote secured in the way you want to.

I have Voted Tory Before But

I see there is a new hashtag going round. #IveNeverVotedTory, well you see I have, on more than one occasion.

Before my Lib Dem friends hang me out to dry I must say that on none of those occasions was my vote an X it was merely a number (on one occasion 2 digits) and thinking back I do not think my vote transferred to a Tory on any occasion.

You see no matter what the Conservative party think about proportional representation it is just one vote, I've actually had more votes in electing multi-member councillors in Kingston and Coventry than I do in electing my multi-member seat representatives in Scotland. Indeed I had three votes to elect three Lib Dems the last time I voted in England, I had only one vote to go toward the 3 councillors that now represent me, and yes it did move as none of them is a Lib Dem.

Indeed when I lived in Coventry my one vote never elected anybody either to council or Westminster, indeed nor have my votes to the Scottish Parliament. Which just shows that the additional member system which is one of Labour preferred options is also a flawed system. My party is stronger elsewhere in the region than here so we only once have the people outwith certain seats in Edinburgh had Lib Dem representation, and then only briefly in 1999 before Lord Steel was elected to be the first presiding officer.

In all my adult life only in Northern Ireland (except Westminster), the last Scottish council elections and the last couple of European elections has my vote actually elected anybody (outwith internal party elections). Is it any wonder that so many people are turned off by politics. There is no need for parties to be actually different just have the air of being different. It is what David Cameron is doing now and what Tony Blair did in 1997. They were not that radically different from the Government of the day, they were just not them.

With proportional systems you have to show where you are different, people will consider how to vote down the list. They may not go all the way down the list, I didn't for the first Assembly elections. I didn't vote for anyone who was anti-Agreement though my vote never transferred anywhere after my first preference, but the thought was there.

So there you have it, I have made a vote that included a preference for the Tories, they just have never benefited from it.

Labour Voting Reform Worthless

The Torygraph are jumping over themselves when a source close to Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg has said of Labour's voting reforms:

"They are worthless and don't go nearly far enough."

The Torygraph go on to conclude:

"The force of his reaction has strengthened the belief that he is much more inclined to prop up a minority Conservative administration than a Labour one."

Err....not necessarily. The Tories are more than happy with the status quo on voting systems. They want First Past the Post (FPTP), indeed some of their MSPs who actually owe their presence in Holyrood to proportional representation (PR) have actually said they'd prefer FPTP. They argue it is easier to understand, but of course for the majority of voters it often comes down to voting for what you actually believe in, or the party most likely to win that isn't as bad as the other at the top. Therefore the current system is not a easy way to understand the people's intentions or preferences.

A prime example of this may well be the fact that although the SNP are riding high in the polls their raison d'etre independence does less well when polled. They are seen by many as merely the lesser worse option than Labour.

So what does Nick want if Labour's Alternative vote system on the current boundaries does not go far enough. The answer is obvious along with reducing the number of MPs, electing the Lords, we'll be calling for multi-member constituencies by STV. Then the everyone of the people's vote will count as it was intended, as it is preferred, not merely as the voter things is the less bad option with a winning chance.

It Ain't Necessarily Bercow

I see that the Common's speaker John Bercow's wife is to stand as a Labour candidate for Westminster Council in the ward where they live. Malc asked the question via Twitter, will he vote for her? My response is it ain't necessarily so.

As anyone who knows my dating history knows the hardest vote I always seem to have to win at any election is that of my other half, whoever they may be. Either if I am merely campaigning or especially if I am standing I have always had to fight for that one vote, it probably has something to do with the fact that I've never (knowingly) dated a fellow Lib Dem supporter. In the 2003 election I actually sat there while my partner at the time went through the postal vote forms. As both the constituency and list seats for Parliament slipped out of my grasp I eagerly waited for the one for the council seat. In the Croftmalloch ward where we lived there were 4 candidates the Lib Dem one being Stephen Glenn. Would I manage to persuade that final vote to go to such a worthy and trustworthy candidate? After a fair amount of teasing it finally did, so I at least knew I had two votes on the day, if only because the preferred options weren't standing a candidate in our area.

It leads back to the point that even though you live with someone, share many aspects of your live with them, when it comes do to political philosophy you may not be able to swing their vote your way. It may be one of those things that you agree to disagree on. I personally always enjoy the fact that one of the toughest audiences I have to argue policy with is at the other side of the dinner table, sofa or bed. I'm not sure what would happen with my own political edge if my partner was of the same political persuasion, I get to rehearse certain arguments in defence of some of our stances (dependent on political allegiances of the OH) on an ongoing basis.

So to answer the question, I think John Bercow should vote for who he wants to vote for, whether that is his wife or the conservative opponent, or anyone else for that matter, its up to him. It is a secret ballot after all.

PS On that note there is recently a vacancy opened up for the position described above. Anyone with a keen interest in politics, prepared to put up with me in full out election campaign mode for the next few months grabbing 'us' time when it is available, may apply. A non-Lib Dem political affiliation is preferable, though not essential (maybe). ;)

Make G......g.....granville's Vote C....c...count

It's the 9th February 2009, it's dark, it's late after 8pm at least. Having delivered the third or fourth leaflet of the day climbing numerous back stairs to flats in the dark, we return to car to find a postal ballot paper under the windscreen wiper. Certain we'd pass near a polling place on the way back to the committee room we head off with the sealed envelope, looking for somewhere to deposit this one vote.

Nothing!

I rush into the committee room and ask for the location of the nearest polling station. Finding out it was at Carnegie Hall so I ran across Sinclair Gardens.

Now imagine what would happen if I or the actual voted had done that before 10pm to find that the polling place or station had shut up shop for the night. So that instead of casting that vote on time it would have left a voter disappointed and disenfranchised.

However, the Ministry of Justice is suggesting just that, early shutting of some polling stations. If that were to happen and you couldn't make the hours of opening at your polling station what do you do? Where do you go? Is there an alternate? Can you personally get there? Do you have time?

Admittedly I have long been the person, if I vote in person and not by postal ballot, who is normally the first to post their vote into the box. I once even was told by the police on the door in Bangor that they weren't ready yet. I asked what time it was, to be informed 7:01. So I walked on in. My democratic right is to vote at a polling station near my place of residence from 7am to 10pm on General Election day.

Although the Ministry of Justice are also looking at shutting some of them down too. To be fair there are two other polling stations about as far from my flat as the one I actually vote in. But that is because I'm on the edge of one boxes area in an urban area. There are a lot of boxes in West Lothian and I'd say they are all necessary to enable everyone to vote in their locality and in urban areas to vote unrushed, unhurried and in a timely fashion.

Like all things there are peak times and slow times. When I worked in retail in the West End the shop was open to 10pm. But people still turned up right to that time. The same applied to voters. They will still turn up right to the end. Some of them may be party workers who do it on the way to a quick shower before heading to the count after a long day. Other's may have waiting until putting the children to bed to get some peace before heading off. Other's may be workers who work away from home but have grabbed a train to enable them to get there even if only just before 10pm on a Thursday night.

The reason for these proposals is apparently money. You can imagine there is outcry that of all the ways government want to penny pinch it is in giving the people their say especially in light of recent months.

John Turner, of the Association of Electoral Administrators, told The Times:

"There is a real danger that despite years of trying to get the voter to engage, the Government is doing the opposite."

Ken Ritchie, of the Electoral Reform Society, added:

"The health of the democratic process is more important than saving peanuts. We risk turning an economic recession into a political one."

I would say panic not as the Ministry of Justice are saying this is only a working paper and not policy right now. Sadly I don't trust a Government, with a healthy majority, that has asked for such a working paper to be drawn up that does seem to vote against the public on issues such as 10:10 will do the right thing. I may of course be surprised.

"G...g...g...g....granville! Did you g....g....g...g....g.....go and v...v....v....vote?"

"I went Mr Arkwright but I didn't get to vote they had shut up early."

"Well that's b....b....b....bad. B...b..best g..g...get b...b...b...back to work then. Still a c....c....couple of hours for us."