When the American critic George Jean Nathan said “Bad officials are elected by good citizens who don’t vote” he was obviously trying to prevent people from wasting their vote to stop the wrong people from taking office. Of course some societies would consider wasting their vote unthinkable; in fact there are some places in the world where people risk their lives and possessions to get to a voting booth. They are made to face inconveniences we just cannot imagine.
Sometimes our screens show desperate people in a distant part of the world who endure standing in endless queues, in blazing heat, having travelled many miles just to make sure their vote is included.
This makes it all the more surprising when we find, on average, only 35% of people eligible to vote in the Little Horton Ward had cast their vote in the last three local elections. That means nearly two-thirds did not have a say in who should represent them. This is not a minor point; it means when matters like crime, education, health and planning are discussed by the Local Authority, for the people of Little Horton, this will all take place without most people choosing who should speak on their behalf.
Part of the reason for this low turn-out might stem from the confusion surrounding what a local election is and what this means for an electoral ward. So here is a brief explanation. Little Horton ward has three Ward Councillors all in post at the same time (the same number of Councillors are found in almost every ward). These are elected to Bradford Council for a period of four years but all of them start their term in office at different times. That is why a Ward Councillor, once elected, will not need to stand elections again for four years.
So, just by way of example, Fareeda Mir is currently one of three Ward Councillors having won an election in 2018 and is now due to stand for re-election this year. Last year it was Talat Sajawal who stood for re-election and was duly re-elected and will not need to face an election again until 2024. Next year it will be Taj Salam standing for
re-election having regained his seat in 2019.
This is why we see elections take place in most years; because when one Ward Councillor is about to start their term, the following year another one is reaching the end of theirs*.
By voting in this democratic system you are making it clear to the elected officials and the organisations within the ward that the services you access and the area where you live are significantly important. It is for this reason why you want the most appropriate person to be elected because you simply want the best for your area. For example, this could be with access to parks, governance of schools, environmental health laws, highway issues and a whole host of other things that would take too much space to list here.
But it’s not just about getting someone elected to fire-fight issues; voting has an impact in a number of other surprising ways.
Political scientists have looked closely at the data and found that voting tells us about many things going on in a society. Interestingly, people who vote are more likely to be interested in charitable projects, in volunteering, attending demonstrations and to cooperate with their fellow citizens in community related affairs. It is not easy to work out whether voting causes people to be more engaged with community matters or if it is vice versa; but some evidence has shown that the act of voting itself encourages volunteering and good citizenship which makes this simple act all the more important.
The upshot of his short article is to say voting is a democratic right that everyone should make sure never goes to waste especially if we wish to improve local provision of services and neighbourhood related matters.
This point becomes all the more important when we consider how many battles had to be fought to earn the right to vote and how much some people in the world are willing to risk for this right that we have taken for granted.
The words – ‘every vote counts’ – really is true and for that reason should never be wasted.
Shahid Islam is not affiliated to any political party or political candidate. He tweets @shahid_islam
Footnote*As there are 3 councillors each with a term of fours years it means there is one year where there no local elections. That is known as a fallow year.
When the American critic George Jean Nathan said “Bad officials are elected by good citizens who don’t vote” he was obviously trying to prevent people from wasting their vote to stop the wrong people from taking office. Of course some societies would consider wasting their vote unthinkable; in fact there are some places in the world where people risk their lives and possessions to get to a voting booth. They are made to face inconveniences we just cannot imagine.
Sometimes our screens show desperate people in a distant part of the world who endure standing in endless queues, in blazing heat, having travelled many miles just to make sure their vote is included.
This makes it all the more surprising when we find, on average, only 35% of people eligible to vote in the Little Horton Ward had cast their vote in the last three local elections. That means nearly two-thirds did not have a say in who should represent them. This is not a minor point; it means when matters like crime, education, health and planning are discussed by the Local Authority, for the people of Little Horton, this will all take place without most people choosing who should speak on their behalf.
Part of the reason for this low turn-out might stem from the confusion surrounding what a local election is and what this means for an electoral ward. So here is a brief explanation. Little Horton ward has three Ward Councillors all in post at the same time (the same number of Councillors are found in almost every ward). These are elected to Bradford Council for a period of four years but all of them start their term in office at different times. That is why a Ward Councillor, once elected, will not need to stand elections again for four years.
So, just by way of example, Fareeda Mir is currently one of three Ward Councillors having won an election in 2018 and is now due to stand for re-election this year. Last year it was Talat Sajawal who stood for re-election and was duly re-elected and will not need to face an election again until 2024. Next year it will be Taj Salam standing for
re-election having regained his seat in 2019.
This is why we see elections take place in most years; because when one Ward Councillor is about to start their term, the following year another one is reaching the end of theirs*.
By voting in this democratic system you are making it clear to the elected officials and the organisations within the ward that the services you access and the area where you live are significantly important. It is for this reason why you want the most appropriate person to be elected because you simply want the best for your area. For example, this could be with access to parks, governance of schools, environmental health laws, highway issues and a whole host of other things that would take too much space to list here.
But it’s not just about getting someone elected to fire-fight issues; voting has an impact in a number of other surprising ways.
Political scientists have looked closely at the data and found that voting tells us about many things going on in a society. Interestingly, people who vote are more likely to be interested in charitable projects, in volunteering, attending demonstrations and to cooperate with their fellow citizens in community related affairs. It is not easy to work out whether voting causes people to be more engaged with community matters or if it is vice versa; but some evidence has shown that the act of voting itself encourages volunteering and good citizenship which makes this simple act all the more important.
The upshot of his short article is to say voting is a democratic right that everyone should make sure never goes to waste especially if we wish to improve local provision of services and neighbourhood related matters.
This point becomes all the more important when we consider how many battles had to be fought to earn the right to vote and how much some people in the world are willing to risk for this right that we have taken for granted.
The words – ‘every vote counts’ – really is true and for that reason should never be wasted.
Shahid Islam is not affiliated to any political party or political candidate. He tweets @shahid_islam
Footnote*As there are 3 councillors each with a term of fours years it means there is one year where there are no local elections. That is known as a fallow year.