Another Labour attempt to degrade demoocracy

Another Labour attempt to degrade demoocracy
Thousands of polling stations would be closed and voting hours reduced under a plan to cut the cost of elections. Other proposals include cutting staff, replacing polling cards with e-mail requests, increasing candidates’ deposits, fixed-term parliaments and reducing security at election counts. The options, outlined in a working paper drawn up by the Ministry of Justice for the Treasury, are designed to save up to £65 million. They were condemned last night as a “threat to democracy that would save peanuts”. Critics said that they would lead to even lower election turnouts when the standing of MPs is at an all-time low after the expenses scandal. Voter turnout has been falling steadily over the decades. Only 61 per cent of the electorate voted in the 2005 general election compared with 84 per cent in 1950. The plan to close stations and lay off staff could have an impact as soon as next year’s general election as it does not require legislation. Councils may decide not to put up hundreds of temporary polling stations that allow voters to cast their ballot paper within walking distance of their home. Laws would have to be introduced to change voting hours or remove polling cards. Election officials said the Government was shooting itself in the foot. “There is a real danger that despite years of trying to get the voter to engage, the Government is doing the opposite,” John Turner, of the Association of Electoral Administrators, said. Ken Ritchie, of the Electoral Reform Society, said: “The health of the democratic process is more important than saving peanuts. We risk turning an economic recession into a political one.”Ruth Fox, director of the Hansard Society’s Parliament and Government programme, said that the move was astonishing given the debacle over MPs’ expenses. The Government should be trying to woo voters not turn them away, she said. “You can’t get good democracy on the cheap.” Dominic Grieve, the Shadow Justice Secretary, said: “There is no more fundamental right in a democracy than that people should have the ability to choose the people who represent them. We must ensure that this right is not jeopardised.” The Ministry of Justice emphasised that the plans were in a working paper drawn up by officials and were not yet Government policy. Negotiations to achieve efficiency savings were still taking place, a spokesman said. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6896218.ece

They must have worked out that this would give Labour some advantage? :roll: They'll try anything to hold onto power won't they? What should a party do when it's down substantially in the polls and staring at the opposition benches in the face? What do you do when you think some of your core vote is slipping away to fringe parties? Easy, start making plans to make sure the election works in your favour to the best of your ability by fiddling with the rules and creating situations where the voters you don't have can't vote, and the ones you've lost won't be able to vote for someone else and split your vote. That is the rather obvious reality of what the Labour Party appear to be planning when you read today's Times. It seems there is a "working paper" drawn up by the Ministry of Justice for the Treasury about cutting the cost of democracy, and within it are proposals such as closing polling stations earlier; scrapping some polling stations altogether; increasing the deposit; and changing the free distribution of one leaflet for all candidates. The Government, of course, says that this is just an ideas paper and isn't policy yet, oh no. However it doesn't take a genius to realise that someone political is bound to have commissioned it, and the proposals themselves are rather blatantly designed to stifle the non-Labour vote and silence opposition of the fringe candidates who threaten to split their core vote. For example, there is an idea to reduce the number of polling stations. Traditionally you have polling stations in your ward, but these ideas suggest making them further away. In rural parts of constituencies with large towns this will make voting a hassle for many, and impossible for some. What sort of voters live in rural areas? Couldn't perhaps be non-Labour voters could it? What about the elderly and infirm? There is another suggestion of changing the opening length of the polling station. Very handy for those of us who live outside London and commute. The scrapping of polling cards and replacing them with email - because everyone has email and a computer right? Everyone, even the 70 year-old widow living alone on a meager pension! Then there is a rather nifty idea of increasing the deposit for candidates. An excellent way to reduce the number of candidates on the ballots to only those from well-funded organisation. Handy if you're seeing your vote leak like a bucket full of holes to the BNP in former Labour strongholds. The best way to tackle the BNP is to make it harder for them to stand then they won't split your vote right? Frankly it is incredible that this "working paper" even exists. So much for living in a democracy. Isn't it ironic too that such ideas would come from a governing party of whom many of its activists complained vehemently about the US presidential election of 2001 because people were restricted from going to the polls and voting papers were confusing? They really are a bunch of shits. http://dizzythinks.net/2009/10/theyll-try-anything-to-hold-onto-power.html

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