PCC Elections

So in the great ideal of democracy we were able to choose who will oversee the policing needs of our local area! What a fiasco!

I always vote! A woman’s right to vote was fought for very hard and I feel I have to uphold the principle but this election for the Police and Crime Commissioner was a complete and utter farce. Apart from the bright pink leaflet that came from the government I received not one scrap of information on the candidates I was expected to choose from.

Last week the local newspaper published the manifesto (such as it was) from each candidate but I’m afraid each was so vague and full of rhetoric that I was no wiser. Also four of the candidates identified their affiliation to a political party and I had thought that the appointment was to be apolitical.

I considered writing ‘This election is a farce’ across my ballot paper but who would care and who would take any notice anyway so I decided on the Independent candidate who had the extra factor of being female.

It would seem the turn-out was low across the country and I’m sure that was the case here, no-one else was at the polling station when I went and no-one else was going in when I left.

Interestingly, I received an automated SMS message on my landline at about 7.30pm last night, reminding me the polling stations would be open until 10pm!

Considering the country is so strapped for cash to have spent so much money on an absolute shambles of an election that no-one asked for, seems to me to be absolutely ridiculous.

Incidentally, I have just checked the results and Cheshire is still to be declared so I don’t even know if my effort to vote had any effect at all.