Make your vote count

Like many people, I often view elections with a little cynicism, and sometimes wonder why on earth I vote. In the last council election, half of the candidates were unknown to me, and there was no sight of them coming around the doors. A couple of leaflets, one pretty average campaign newspaper and that was it. We were voting for people who had never laid out their stall or justified why voting for them would make a difference to our lives. What worries me most of all about my own cynicism is that in my job as a policy officer I am involved in politics on a daily basis. And yet, as an individual, and as an unpaid carer, there are times when policy making processes which affect my life and the life of my disabled husband seem very, very far away from us. This is true for many people. The public services which politicians direct and make decisions about are bureaucratic at best. At worst, they are incredibly distant from and have no understanding of our day-to-day lives. The recent research from Demos and Quarriers sums this up rather well. Rather than working against the “ties that bind” families and communities, public services need to work with these. For many unpaid carers I know, and in my own experience, that is rarely the case. Why vote? This is a question I hear increasingly from political and community activists. There is a real sense, certainly among carers, that we are not listened to, never mind understood. The Self-Directed Support legislation is a perfect example. Many of us campaigned for carers to have equal rights to support but it didn’t happen, and it wasn’t for the want of trying. Afterwards, many friends said: “what’s the point?” As more people ask the why vote question, it’s clear that there is a very serious problem. And it's not just limited to Scotland or the UK. Low voter engagement and voter turnout challenges the very basis of our democracy. Commentators suggest that turnout in the referendum vote will be high but the fact is that many people in communities where life is a daily challenge won’t vote and don’t see any point in doing so. As Ed Miliband pointed out recently, people feel powerless. They feel that they have no voice and that what they think doesn’t matter. This is incredibly sad as we approach a critically important vote about our future. But here is where there can be a different referendum legacy – a legacy which creates a revitalised democracy and true voter involvement. The referendum debate has stimulated public meetings. Politicians and political activists from both camps are pounding the streets and meeting people in unprecedented numbers. We need to capture and maintain this momentum. The referendum has created a tangible opportunity for us to build stronger links between those we vote for, and the needs and wishes of our families and communities. And it’s a challenge which even Westminster parties recognise, if Labour’s call to open up Prime Ministers’ Questions is anything to go by. So here at SCVO we are kicking off our Missing Million campaign to help people understand that they have a voice, and that in the referendum and beyond, their vote matters – and that they matter too.