Keep all polling stations open – but use them every four years
THIS week’s column has been a hard one to write.
Normally focused on local politics, this column will be read by many people after they’ve voted.
At the same time, any real discussion about a local political issue this week would result– it can be guaranteed – in complaints from either one political party or another.
Both Labour and Conservative politicians have suggested that this column favours the other in recent times.
After all, it’s quite possible you’re reading this while the polling stations are still open in the Rossendale council elections.
If you are, and you haven’t voted, I urge you to put down your paper – for now – and head out to cast your vote.
If I had my way, we’d only be voting once every four years anyway.
Not because elections make this column hard to write one week every year, but because it’s absurd in a time of cost-cutting that we only vote for a third of councillors every year.
When we vote in national elections, we vote for all MPs.
When we vote in the Lancashire county council elections, we do so once every four years.
So why do we go through the rigmarole of voting for just a third of the local council every year, and then have a fourth year in a cycle where we don’t vote at all?
Switching to just one vote every four years, as far as I can tell, would only benefit locally.
First of all, it’d be cheaper than running polling stations every year.
A few years ago, the council agonised over closing some polling stations to save some cash, arguing some polling stations weren’t well used.
Fair enough, but a better solution would be to keep those polling stations open, but only use them once every four years.
A vote every four years makes it much more likely there will be change in political leadership of a council too.
It will have taken something remarkable at the polling stations this week for the Tories to take control of Rossendale council.
I’m not saying there needs to be a change in political leadership this time (nor am I saying there doesn’t) but people are much more likely to vote if they feel their vote will make a difference.
Likewise, those who are happy with their current councillors are more likely to vote if they feel they are more likely to be voted out if they don’t.
Putting all councillors up to stand together means politicians can focus their energies and their limited party funds on one election, rather than trying to stretch the cash and efforts out over three elections.
This could result in the parties presenting much crisper manifestos on what they’d do over the next four years, in the knowledge that they’d be in charge for all four – and not worried about next year’s election.
As the tone of recent political debate has shown, the annual prospect of a local election means we lose two to three months a year to political grandstanding based around votes.
That’s not good for voters, who tune out, and it’s certainly not good for the way this area is run.
It’s not good for the politicians either.
Will our politicians consider this idea?
I hope so – for once, it’s not an idea which involves them being turkeys voting for Christmas, just making a very big Christmas, once every four years.