People just don't think voting matters

The top question of the day is: why do so many working people in our most deprived communities think voting doesn’t make any difference. The reason: harsh experience and being let down time and time again. To them it's not a cliché to think that all politicians are the same, that they don't understand their life or that they never keep the promises they make. Why not? Because it's what people have experienced and still experience from one election to the next. While giving a presentation as part of a discussion about the Commonwealth Games and Glasgow as a flourishing city, I threw out a few less than positive facts. Almost half of Glasgow residents reside in 20% of the most deprived areas in Scotland, 33% of all children in the city (that’s 33,000) were estimated to be living in poverty in 2012. A fifth of households had a net income of less than £10k and the two most recent local government by-elections in Glasgow had 20% and 17.5% turn-out rates. How much of the money and how many of the jobs announced by David Cameron and George Osborne (and matched by the Scottish Government) will trickle down to the people and communities who need it most? I do think the Games’ legacy offers a positive opportunity for change but only if it's about really changing people's lives and not just infrastructure and physical regeneration. Politicians need to realise that if people don't see their lives and community improving, despite the promises, they won't vote. Why should they? The referendum turn-out will be higher than the last Scottish Parliament and local government elections, but we still have the potential of a million people in Scotland not voting. We know that the top 20% of income earners are the most likely to vote, and as many as half of people in the bottom 20% don’t vote. This means it’s the poor, least educated and most vulnerable people who aren’t having their say. These are the people whose lives are most directly affected by political decisions about welfare, health and social care. If they don’t vote, it’s easier for politicians to ignore their needs. Political parties and politicians might not like it, or admit, but unless they do something to regain trust and increase voting it brings into question their democratic mandate. That is why SCVO together with the STUC and the Daily Record are running the Missing Million campaign. Every vote counts.