Voting in UK elections

Voting in UK elections

 

By Patrick Matbob

The card came through the post. It had my name and address on it, plus the electorate where I was residing – North Cardiff – and where the polling booth would be. It had instructions for me to show it to the polling officials when I go to vote on Thursday, May 5.

 

It must be a mistake, I thought to myself. I certainly can’t vote in UK. I am neither British nor a UK citizen.
Still I was fascinated and decided to ask my friends and lecturers about it. They were no help.
“Oh I don’t know about that,” rattled Claire a British lecturer when I asked if I was eligible to vote. She had not received a card either.
It must really be a mistake I thought to myself. Then I had this bright idea. I planned to go to the polling booth on Thursday May 5 and see what happens. If they reject me which I was sure would happen then the experience would make a good story. It would be better still if I got to vote.
Comforted in the thought of a good story, I prepared myself for the ‘election experience’.
The conviction that I was not eligible to vote in Britain or anywhere else in the world prevented me from finding out further why I had received the card.
Surprisingly, the person who knew more about the electoral laws in UK was not British, but American. Christine and I were together in a module for Reporting Business & Finance and one of our project was to debate the economic policies of the three major parties in UK – Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. The project required us to do some research on the manifestos and policies of the three parties. While preparing for our debate, I asked Christine if she knew who was eligible to vote in the UK elections.
“If you are British, Commonwealth or European Union citizen,” she said without hesitation. I was astounded.
“Really?” I asked rather foolishly. Here I was a Commonwealth citizen and a journalist and I was unaware that I was eligible to vote in UK.
I was not alone in my ignorance. There were other Commonwealth and European Union students who were not aware that they were eligible to vote as well.
So finally I did what I should have done earlier – an internet search about my query. Sure enough. The electoral office in UK revealed exactly what Christine had said. I was eligible and it was not a mistake that I received my voting card.
As my embarrassment passed, my PNG election instincts took over. After all national elections are the biggest thing to happen in PNG every five years. While only 59 per cent of the eligible voters in Britain turned out to vote in the last elections, more than 100 per cent of the PNG eligible voters must have voted in the 2002 elections. They included the ghost names and all those who cheated and double voted.
For PNG journalists, covering the national election every five years is an exciting moment in their careers. No two elections are same and they create all types of stories - from the boring campaign speeches to bloody and fatal clashes between supporters of candidates. A reporter’s training in journalism ethics is tested vigorously by discreet offer of bribes, as well as invites to campaign festivities with all costs paid by the intending candidates. Nepotism reigns above professional ethics and journalists often do not know who to trust – the government officers, polling officials, the police or the candidates. Journalists also risk their lives when they are caught up in election battles.
But here in UK, the election was mostly a media affair. There were no posters smiling down patronisingly and defacing building fronts, light poles and tree trunks. There were no noisy floats blaring messages around the surburbs either – just orderly party rallies in buildings and chosen sites. Noticeably missing were the six to six beer parties with free barbecued lamb flaps and all night dancing courtesy of the local candidate. I asked the British students about these things hoping I could attend one but they looked at me blankly. Most were not interested in elections any way.
So I looked up the candidates for Cardiff North where I was going to vote. I was horrified. There were only five candidates! Five - I thought. What happened to the other 35? Surely there must be a mistake. Forty seems to be the popular number in PNG.
My next dilemma was who to vote for. I did not know the candidates and had to read the bio data provided. I decided to vote along party lines because party politics is dominant in UK. It had to be a toss up between Labour and Conservatives because Liberal Democrats were never really in the race.
That was the good thing about the pre-election polls in UK – you could generally trust them.
My leanings had always been towards Labour considering how well Britain had performed economically since Labour came into power in 1997. Like many other people though, my greatest disappointment had been Iraq. While Britain had every right to protect itself against terrorist threats, I felt this did not include having to follow Bush and wage war on a country of lesser military might. Thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians have been killed and massive suffering inflicted on those who survived. Of course, we know now Iraq never had weapons of mass destruction – so there was no excuse at all for the war.
On the other hand, the Conservatives were not an attractive alternative either. In fact, if it was not for Iraq, Blair would not have had to struggle in this election since Howard did not seem a popular choice for the people.
Another issue was the Conservative stance on immigration which while appealing to the right wing in UK, was not going to win any support from the Third World voters.
The party’s insistence on deregulation also revived painful memories of Thatcher’s free market policies. While the policy may have worked well in Britain which has an economy strong enough to cushion the effects of deregulation and privatisation, it spelt disaster for many Third World nations. This happened because Thatcher and Reagan’s insisted that the World Bank and IMF make deregulation and privatisation a condition for loans to the Third World nations. Hence, many third world countries were hit hard as the structural adjustment policies increased suffering by causing job losses, loss of food subsidies and increasing costs of basic services. In PNG privatisation remains a contentious issue.
So it was a question of choosing the lesser evil. I chose Labour mostly because the alternative was less attractive.
Finally came the big day on Thursday May 5. As I marched in to vote, I found the polling room empty except for the three polling officials. There were no scrutinisers, no armed police, no posters, no cordoned area, no queues and no-one hanging about! Amazing! I handed over my card, and picked up the ballot paper. I looked around for the indelible ink but they were none. The official just tore my card up and ticked my name.
Smiling sweetly at the polling official, I introduced myself and told her it was my first time to vote in a UK election and would she mind taking a picture of me. She and her colleagues were amused and happy to oblige.
Well Labour has won North Cardiff seat and I feel satisfied contributing my one vote worth.
As I sit here in my room, I wonder whether there can be some personal benefits for backing the winner. After all it seems to be a Papua New Guinean thing to do!
A job as a brief case carrier with the member perhaps? Or better still a ticket to the Carribean for the summer?