Spontaneous Monotony

Well it seems the Executive have finally got their fingers out and realised that having less than half the population vote at a Scottish Parliament election is not something to be proud of. The new ‘Vote Scotland’ campaign is run ‘jointly’ by the Executive and the Electoral Commission (which probably means the Electoral Commission are organising it and the Executive will take the credit). The site is pretty good, with information which seems obvious as hell if you know it, but would be something of a problem if you didn’t (like how to register to vote, how the various voting systems work etc.)

I’ve never understood the point of not voting. If the polling station is in a stupid place (which, unfortunately, some of them are) then get a postal vote. If you don’t think any of the candidates are worthy of being elected, go along and write some obscenity next to every name on the ballot paper – you will be recorded as a ‘spoiled ballot’ and will have participated in the process. Given the apparent resurgence of the SNP this could be the most significant Scottish Parliament election yet. If you support independence, this is your chance to help move Scotland towards that goal – if you oppose it, then it’s time to stand up and be counted.

See also

• BBC Scotland- Scots voting campaign launched
• The Electoral Commission – Scotland (with some information that isn’t in the campaign site)
• Vote Scotland