PCC elections tomorrow

[Red9zero]

I'm in North Somerset, so not too far from the OP, but I'm not sure I can be bothered to go out to vote today. I would usually walk over to the polling station with the dog, but it`s horrible outside and I'm at home in the warm and dry and the dog is fast asleep. I suspect lots of people are the same.

[MesoForm]

eldar said:

Mr Penguin said:

I'm not in your area but I only know we have the election because the council sent a polling card. No idea who the candidates are or who the incumbent is.

Same here, nothing from any candidate. None of my neighbours seem to know or care. Only the PCC to vote for, so I suspect single figure turnout.

Same here - it's not any local elections for us, just the PCC and there's been absolutely nothing from anyone about what they're standing for. Polling station is a 10 minute walk (at least I assume it's where it normally is, haven't checked!) so I might go up at lunchtime to stretch my legs and vote.

[Hoofy]

Mr Penguin said:

Hoofy said:

My postal vote is sitting right here. Waiting to go in recycling. I normally send in postal votes immediately.

Yes, a PCC is probably important. Struggling to care what colour tie they wear. I've not seen any of the manifestos but I suspect they all want to cut crime.

"We will cut crime by getting more police" - some variant on that.

The Monster Raving Loony Party might have a pledge to tell people what the job actually entails.

What irks me more is that I live on the border with London so a few people I know get to vote on things like the mayor (ULEZ!) which is much more interesting. Meanwhile, all we get is the PCC. Why not have a vote for daffodils or bluebells in the local park?!

[Chris Type R]

Pupp said:

I think they’ll be lucky to crack 5%; it is and always was a pointless role, attracting only the self-interested and self-important. And don’t the incumbents always seem to fall from grace very quickly after appointment; it’s almost compulsory they exercise no self-awareness.

I’ll not be troubling the village presiding officer to let me fill in one of his new forms, nor have I cost the nation the price of a stamp.

Waste of time.

Our local incumbent in a spot of bother about social media posts - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c51nlk3kmelo

We're voting PCC only locally, and as I don't understand the role, don't understand why the candidates are aligned with political parties, and really cannot see the value I'll not be bothering.

[Somewhatfoolish]

I will come up with an actual number - 34.7% (including postal votes)

[Biggy Stardust]

Elroy Blue said:

Their deputy, the deputy's deputy, office staff, admin costs a huge amount.
They are also interfering, egotistical buffoons.
The Force you highlighted also has a PCC with a Kim Jong Un complex.
They are a complete waste of money and their only aim is to ensure they get re-elected and stay on the gravy train

It's not often we agree but I'm 100% with you on this one. Waste of time & money.

[Squadrone Rosso]

The only elections here in South Wales.

No contact at all from any of the candidates. No flyers through the door or anything.

Hence CBA to vote today!

[Don Roque]

The PCC role needs to be scrapped. The whole pointless exercise has been a massive of waste of public funding to feather nests of various feckless politicians and other self-interested idiots.

[eldar]

Somewhatfoolish said:

I will come up with an actual number - 34.7% (including postal votes)

Prediction of overall turnout?

[Scotty2]

Just been to our local polling station to write "This is a waste of money!" across the ballot slip.
Made me feel better anyway.

The people manning the station said hardly anyone had been in...

It really is a pointless waste of money, with three candidates I know nothing about and who have done nothing to try and justify the position!

[carreauchompeur]

Seemed a steady stream at the polling station today, was quite surprised since there’s no other ‘element’ to the voting.

Seems like a way for parties to push their own agendas

[tangerine_sedge]

Scotty2 said:

Just been to our local polling station to write "This is a waste of money!" across the ballot slip.
Made me feel better anyway.

The people manning the station said hardly anyone had been in...

It really is a pointless waste of money, with three candidates I know nothing about and who have done nothing to try and justify the position!

I will be doing the same today - I wonder if we can get more spoiled papers than actually real votes?

edited to add : I guestimate 6% turnout for the OP.

edited to add again : now voted spoiled paper, polling station dead. Only ~230 people voted so far out of a local population of about 4,000 for that polling station, so about 5.5% turnout sofar today. I doubt it'll make double figures.

Edited by tangerine_sedge on Thursday 2nd May 18:54

[blue_haddock]

We 've had two fliers sent to us, one by a local labour candidate and one from a lib dem candidate.

The labour guy is actually an old school friend and is pretty much a 'professional' councillor, in so much that he used to work for the previous labour MP and is now a local councillor on allsorts of committees but i dont think he's ever had a proper job.

If i can be bothered to vote i'll probably vote for him as at least that way if i do need the services of the PCC i can skip the line.

[Somewhatfoolish]

eldar said:

Somewhatfoolish said:

I will come up with an actual number - 34.7% (including postal votes)

Prediction of overall turnout?

Tbh given what I've just encountered down at my polling station (where we're also voting for North East Mayor and I have voted for Kim on the basis that with the other 5 candidates 3 look like sex offenders, 1 is a Corbynista, and 1 is the kind of guy who wakes up early on a Sunday to go running - plus she's the only one who bothered coming around to ask for my precious vote) I suspect that's a wild overestimate and the single digits quoted here for PCC only seats is probably about right. I'm going to guess turn out in the North East Mayor is about 27.3%. Which corresponds to 11.2% in Somerset according to my sophisticated mathematical model.

[Pupp]

Okay, inspired by you lot, I have just walked to the polling station to do my civic duty by handing in a spoiled postal paper urging abolition of the PCC gravy train… will do absolutely no good of course but the candidates do get to inspect spoiled papers; hopefully mine will have some company!

Our village hall is a mausoleum of a place so good to see the doors wide open and the (expensive) electric heaters going full pelt!

[Timothy Bucktu]

I didn't bother...I even walked past the polling station.

[Otispunkmeyer]

Mr E said:

I’d genuinely forgotten PCCs were still a thing.

I hadn't

They scoop nice chunk of your council tax bill. For what I don't know.

[pingu393]

Mr Penguin said:

The Monster Raving Loony Party might have a pledge to tell people what the job actually entails.

I'd expect them to insist that sleeping policemen are not disturbed for 8 hours

[James6112]

We both voted first thing
Did our best to give the Tories a kicking!
True blue Tory area. LDs won the local elections last time.
They will again.
Tory MP out next.
Our area will be LD, to deliver Labour Pm

[macron]

I surprised them by a) turning up and B) asking for a tactile voting device, which is what you can used if you have crap vision. They had no idea what to do with it, so it was a good job I was only nosing as to what it was and how it worked as I know the guy who supplies them, and you'd be very envious of his garage.