PCC Elections

[maxwells_daemon]

I enjoy elections and think it is important to vote. So much so, I vote in two different countries where I am eligible to vote.

But I don't agree with today's PCC (Police and Crime Commissioner) elections. I think criminal justice is the one of the worst things to make directly elected (just look at elected prosecutors and judges in the US). So, I've been wondering what to do. Many people have suggested not voting or (better) deliberately spoiling their ballot as a protest. On the other hand one of the candidates does seem better qualified than the rest, so it would be a pity not to register my opinion. [*]

In the end, I went and marked "scrap PCC" (ie. spoilt) as my first choice and my preferred candidate (Tim Starkey, Labour) as second choice. I don't know whether that will be counted the way I want, but it's the best I can do. (They could discard the whole ballot as spoilt, or count my second choice as a first choice.)

The polling station was empty (apart from the tellers, one of whom was off making tea) when I went in at 5pm, so I guess most people are not voting. I told the teller that I was sorry that they had to be there, but he said he enjoyed elections. Even more than me, it seems!

* Also, The Economist argues "If turnout in next week’s elections is really low, England and Wales (Scotland is sensibly sticking with police authorities) could end up with mighty figures who feel untrammelled by public scrutiny."

Comments

[zengineer.livejournal.com]

The function of police commissioner is linked to police force and in England this doesn't directly relate to any regional (or international) government so I suppose the role would devolve to the Home Secretary (or possibly the Justice minister). Home secretaries generally seem to be worried about rather different things to the issues that affect me and so I welcome the chance to direct the police more to what concerns me . The role may make the police no more accountable or concerned with the issues that concern me and it may not be worth the costs of the election and the commissioners elected but I would have said it is too soon to say. The issue is not whether others are better informed but whether they have the same concerns.

[vicarage.livejournal.com]

Of course in London we didn't have the election, as the view was that we elect a Mayor who chooses the Chief Constables, as the Met Police region maps to Boris's electorate.

So not only do we have different rules in different countries in the UK, but different rules within England. Bristol gets a Mayor, but he can't control the Avon Police Constable.

Like the council elections, were London votes much less frequently than the rest of the UK, its a mess.