Report to the People
14th May 2007
Vote of Confidence
It’s a
phrase over-used by politicians, but it is a huge honour that you have again
chosen me to represent you in Holyrood. In
the four years ahead, I will continue to do my utmost to make our community’s
voice heard.
That you
re-elected me as your MSP, though, was one of the more straightforward outcomes
to emerge from election night.
We still
don’t have a First Minister, or know who will form the government.
And people continue to express some surprise that, across Scotland,
candidates who were defeated in the constituencies somehow arrive in the
Parliament thanks to the backdoor List system.
But this, believe it or not, is the system working as intended.
Not intended,
though, were the problems around casting and counting the votes.
For the politicians, officials and members of the press who sat or paced
the floor at the Waterfront throughout Thursday night and Friday, it was tiring
and frustrating. But far more seriously, thousands of people were denied their
right to vote.
There are
some, of course, who argue that if you can’t understand a ballot paper, you
shouldn’t be deciding who runs the country or the council.
But a vote is everyone’s right, not just those adept at filling in
forms, and serious questions need to be asked about how we make this right
easier to exercise.
Voting
systems and ballot paper design are usually the preserve of political anoraks.
But perhaps now‘s the time for the rest of us to take a closer
interest.
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