Low turnout for Mayoral Election
Ivan Agenda | 18.10.2002 16:49
Hackney council have just elected a new major with just under three-quarters of the population deciding not to vote. How low should a turnout be before it is considered nullified?
The election for the mayor of Hackney has been decided, with Labour councillor Jules Pipe, the current leader of the council being declared the winner with 41.95% of the vote. Yet probably the most remarkable aspect of this contest has been the amount of people who chose not to vote throughout the process. Prior to this election the council held a referendum to see if a mayor was desired and a mere 32% voted in favour. For the election itself, a staggeringly low turnout of 26.34% was recorded and this was still not the lowest of those that took place today. Bedford, Mansfield and Stoke-on-Trent all received low turnouts making the election seem like a farce.
Recently elections in Serbia resulted in a turnout of 45% and within their constitution over 50% must vote. However no such limit is required within our system as a spokesperson for the Office for the Deputy Prime minister (ODPM) said, “The elections are part of the democratic process and no threshold is set…election turnouts are a concern.” Julie Martins a local resident who was one of the many who decided not to vote said, “People are voting less and less because there views are being ignored more and more and Hackney’s had it worse than others…Tell me why I’m voting when all I see is our services cut and sold…Jules Pipe voted for those cuts.” What is certain is the majority of people didn’t vote for the winner and the question is was the winner democratically elected?
Recently elections in Serbia resulted in a turnout of 45% and within their constitution over 50% must vote. However no such limit is required within our system as a spokesperson for the Office for the Deputy Prime minister (ODPM) said, “The elections are part of the democratic process and no threshold is set…election turnouts are a concern.” Julie Martins a local resident who was one of the many who decided not to vote said, “People are voting less and less because there views are being ignored more and more and Hackney’s had it worse than others…Tell me why I’m voting when all I see is our services cut and sold…Jules Pipe voted for those cuts.” What is certain is the majority of people didn’t vote for the winner and the question is was the winner democratically elected?
Ivan Agenda
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