Sussex Police and crime commissioner election.... A simple mans view.

[perseus]

Hardly any voters at the polling booth. Katy Bourne sent a belated acknowledgement. Too late, I had already voted and not for her.

 

[Robdinho]

http://politicalscrapbook.net/2012/11/the-police-commissioner-polling-station-with-only-1-08-turnout/

This is an absolute farce. Surely a vote has to be labelled as void if only 1% of people turn out?

 

[jackanada]

I went and voted about 6.30. There wasn't even anyone anywhere near the polling station. As I wended my way into the interior of the building it was deathly quiet and the small fear of a mugging I experienced was the closest I have come to anyone campaigning for my vote.

Finally found 4 bored people manning the deserted polling booths, who ticked off my name from the pristine looking electoral roll. "Busy day?" I enquired. They all laughed, I was surprised so few people had turned up that the joke hadn't got old yet.

I put a cross next to 2 non-torys of some description and further penned in that I would rather have voted against the whole idea as it's a bag of cock.

 

[StillHateBellotti]

Just been to one in Eastbourne. Of the ten or so pages on the desk looked as if only about 20 people had even bothered to turn up! Spoilt vote.

 

[Marty McFly]

At 19.30 today I was the 107th voter at my local polling station. I deliberately spoiled my paper.

 

[Laptop Ell]

Who does a spoilt vote help? It just makes it hard for the volunteer counters who have no connection with the candidates whatsoever!

I vote for the sake of voting....for the "occasion" and don't understand why political parties should be relevant in this?

I voted for Katy Bourne purely because she was NOT connected with the police in any way, and the others were!

 

[Lord Bracknell]

From the outside looking in- it does seem a shame that political parties are involved in these elections. Surely the appointment should be apolitical

When is the voting??
havent had any literature about it or even who the candidates are so how can I vote.
If they can't be arsed, neither can I

Therein lies the rub. It's ONLY the major political parties who have the funds to get their literature out to the million or so electors in every police area. And even they can't afford to get information to every household.

 

[Laptop Ell]

7% turnout reported in Oxford, 6% in Leeds and one in London as low as 3.2% – but the lowest was at 5pm in Southampton with a 1% turnout at that point.

 

[beorhthelm]

Therein lies the rub. It's ONLY the major political parties who have the funds to get their literature out to the million or so electors in every police area. And even they can't afford to get information to every household.

yep, nowt through our letter box. in fact if it wasnt for this thread i dont think i'd have known about it occuring, the national news doesnt seem to have given it an coverage, my missus says the local TV has a bit.

 

[Brovion]

Who does a spoilt vote help? It just makes it hard for the volunteer counters who have no connection with the candidates whatsoever!

I vote for the sake of voting....for the "occasion" and don't understand why political parties should be relevant in this?

I voted for Katy Bourne purely because she was NOT connected with the police in any way, and the others were!

A spoilt paper shows you don't want any candidate, it doesn't make it 'hard' for the counters at all! The ones that make it hard are the ones where the vote is ambiguous.

7% turnout reported in Oxford, 6% in Leeds and one in London as low as 3.2% – but the lowest was at 5pm in Southampton with a 1% turnout at that point.

There is no PCC vote in London.

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

7% turnout reported in Oxford, 6% in Leeds and one in London as low as 3.2% – but the lowest was at 5pm in Southampton with a 1% turnout at that point.

London? That's weird as London wasn't voting and yet managed a higher turnout than a ward in Southampton?

 

[Baron Pepperpot]

How I voted in the PCC Election | The Pepperpot Post

Here is how I voted ....

 

[Tricky Dicky]

I see Gwent returned a grand total of ZERO votes for their PCC. That says a lot, I wonder who gets the job ?

 

[yxee]

While we're on the subject of voting, whose idea was this whole thing and how do I vote against them?

 

[Giraffe]

I went to the booth and went, Labour no too far left, Liberal Democrat no too far left, UKIP no what's coming out of the EU got to do with the police, conservatives its a woman, imagine WPC outfit, first choice, oh independant, bless him, second choice.

I literally have no idea what any of them stand for or what they what to do or even what it all means.

That's democracy for you.

 

[perseus]

Katy Bourne replied in her EMail saying she had seen inundated by correspondence and could not reply. Was there that much interest. The Email said that she had 300 enquiries a day:

"I am currently encountering an unprecedented number of enquiries c.300 daily. This is a direct result from having delivered 400,000 pieces of literature across Sussex, including newsletters/crime surveys county-wide and from hosting a series of public events and town centre walkabouts.

I am determined to respond personally to every email and I thank you for your patience and understanding."

This must been that at least 2100 are interested, (if this figure is to be believed). If 2% of people who wrote to he this might mean 50,000 voters (a mandate?). Other candidates replied immediately.

 

[perseus]

I went to the booth and went, Labour no too far left, Liberal Democrat no too far left, UKIP no what's coming out of the EU got to do with the police, conservatives its a woman, imagine WPC outfit, first choice, oh independant, bless him, second choice.

I literally have no idea what any of them stand for or what they what to do or even what it all means.

That's democracy for you.

According to the Political Compass Liberal Democrats and Labour in England are right of centre. Only the Greens could be said to be left wing, and I have my doubts about that in Brighton. All candidates are right wing and there is not much to choose between them.

As far as authoritarianism is concerned (enforcing the law) The church candidiate and the independent may be less authoritarian, but he could be an eye for an eye wergold type of Anglo-Saxon. Who knows? A whole different meaning to getting stoned. (But the judiciary is not the Police in England, not quite yet.)

Poll turnout. The Argus poll said 37%, I thought 22% but said 30%. But we may be not even get 22%. From Shoreham limited observation it might be about 11%.

 

[perseus]

I have only just found out how the votes are counted:


Under the supplementary-vote system being used in this election - where voters could select first and second choices - candidates' first-preference votes will be counted initially.

If any of the candidates has received more than 50% of the total vote, he or she will be declared the winner.

If there is no overall majority at that stage, all except the top two candidates will be eliminated. If any of the eliminated candidates' second-preference votes are for either of the surviving candidates, these will be added to their running totals, determining the winner.


BBC News - Sussex PCC election: Vote counting under way


So if you voted first choice for one of the nutters, the second choice you made may be more important.

 

[The Large One]

BBC report turnout in Sussex was 15.82%.

FWIW - I didn't even know there was a 'second choice' on the ballot paper until I turned up at the Polling Station.

This has been a total farce from earhole to breakfast time.

 

[Frutos]

This has been a total farce from earhole to breakfast time.

This.

For the first time since I have been eligible to do so, I let an election pass without voting on the grounds that I would have had no idea who to vote for or what difference the eventual winner will make aside from taking up police funding for bureauceacy rather than actual policing.