2008 GLA Election Archive
Poll: One In Four Won’t Vote
A YouGov opinion poll carried out for broadband company TalkTalk suggests Mayoral contenders are likely to miss out on vital votes under the current system which requires people to register for the electoral register during the annual canvass each year and then attend, in person, at a neighbourhood polling station, or pre-arrange a postal or proxy vote.
With turn out likely to be critical in this week’s London Mayoral election, the poll reveals that one in four Londoners already admits that they are “not very likely” to vote.
Busy working lives and the hectic social schedules of those living in the capital, plus bad weather and postal delays could all lower turnout on the day, as evidenced in the 2004 Mayoral election when turnout fell to 40%.
Almost half of respondents (48%) say that they would be “more likely to vote” if they could stamp their cross online.
“This study highlights that more people would vote in the forthcoming election if they could vote online,” says Dominic Stinton, spokesperson for TalkTalk.
“We all lead such busy lives - this research proves the significance of convenience to busy Londoners, and shows how the internet is now engrained in daily life. It touches every aspect, including politics.”
Stinton suggests online voting would not only make democracy more accessible but would “lead to increased numbers of people voting on polling day” and says “The question is surely not whether online voting will come to the UK, but when?”
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But online voting is even more open to fraud than postal voting on demand…which itself has been described as leading us into elections worthy of a banana republic (to paraphrase a judge during a trial on electoral gerrymandering). Turnout in 2004 was 37% which itself was UP on the first London Mayor election in 2000. The reason for low turnout is not technology - we were promised that low turnout would be solved by postal voting on demand and that has failed to make any impact at all.
The reason for low turnout is also and above all a failure by the political class to inspire - every single one of my publishing staff watched the Question Time Mayor debate and to sum it up, the response was “are they kidding?” It was a low level, policy free slagging match which all my team agreed offered no vision, no interest and no incentive to vote.
And really? One in four say they are ‘not very likely’ to vote? So that’s a 75% turnout at least then, asssuming some of those ‘not very likely’ decide to vote!? Who wants to take a bet with me on a 75% turnout? If, as an Assembly Member I am allowed to bet on such things, I will take on allcomers with every penny I can raise against such a result…it shows that what people sometimes say to pollsters is, shall we say, wide of the mark…the real question is, will it hit 50% and I still say ‘not a chance’…