This entry was posted on 5/5/2010 8:21 PM and is filed under Footnotes.
The volcano with the unpronounceable name once again spews dust into the atmosphere threatening to close travel by air to and from the UK.(1) But one thing Eyjafjallajökull will not be able to stop is the British election.
Britain goes to the polling booths on 6 May to elect its members of parliament (MPs). It is an unpopular time to be a politician.(2) The national scandal in which many MPs allegedly claimed for embarrassingly frivolous expenses means many have stood down this time. But there is a lingering sense that those elected to serve have demonstrated more of a sense of entitlement than of dutiful service to the public; and an instinct that the politicians are not being straight with the electorate on the tough decisions that lie ahead. Voters are always smarter than the politicians and pollsters assume and large numbers of voters appear to still be undecided at this late hour.
Compared to the USA, election campaigns in the UK are short affairs. Perhaps it is true that candidates turned representatives never really stop electioneering, but the actual canvassing and door-to-door leafleting lasts just four weeks in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. What made this year’s campaign different from all the others, however, were the US-style TV debates, and on account of that Icelandic volcano, I was able to watch two of the three live. Whereas before the debates the pundits had predicted a two horse race (Conservatives vs. Labour), the first debate catapulted the leader of Britain’s third largest party (Liberal Democrats) into pole position. The last four weeks in the run up to this election have been uncharacteristically exciting, not least because no-one knows the likely result. There’s even talk of a ‘hung parliament’ where no one party has enough seats to lead outright and rivals will horse-trade to form a very unBritish coalition government of the sort more associated with Germany, Israel, Italy and New Zealand.
I have been lucky to have already posted my vote as an expat. On Thursday my compatriots will get their chance to mark their one ‘X’ with the chinagraph pencil on the voting paper in the privacy of the wooden voting booth, to fold it once and push it into the open slot of he ballot box on public view in the polling station. (3) No electronic voting here and no hanging chads to cause miscounting – just a black cross on a piece of paper, each one counted by hand while the candidates and their representatives watch closely.
It is not so different to the way ancient Athenians voted using two pebbles, one white the other black, dropping one into a jar to vote for or against a candidate. Similarly, the registered citizens of the voting tribes of ancient Rome entered their pens to cast their votes. Voting in elections defined Athenian democracy and the Roman republic and it was taken very seriously.(4) When, in 65BCE Marcus Tullius Cicero stood for election he took his responsibilities to heart and canvassed for votes as politicians do today, and then some. In a letter to his friend Atticus he wrote “for myself I shall take the greatest pains to carry out all the duties of a candidate”.(5) Then as now a man in politics needed friends and especially friends with connections. In another letter he advised,
take pains to get on your side the young men of high rank, or retain the affection of those you already have. They will contribute much to your political position. You have very many; make them feel how much you think depends on them: if you induce those to be positively eager who are merely not disinclined, they will be of very great advantage to you.(6)
Of course such support brought with it obligations. The tragedy for modern representative democracies like Britain is how few people eligible to actually turn out to vote, feeling they have no stake in the outcome, with many feeling their vote will be “wasted” if they vote for the “wrong candidate”. The only wasted vote in my opinion is one that is not exercised. I don’t necessarily believe in mandated or compulsory voting – that is a matter for the citizen’s conscience – but a democracy in which large groups of voters do not participate through apathy, indecision, or protest does not serve the interests of the body politic well. Of course voters can only pick from those who have stood for election, and the voters may not actually not like any of the candidates standing in their constituency. Sadly it is not a new problem either. “In the general opinion,” write Cicero,
this premature canvass of his [rival] is not unfavourable to my interests; for the voters generally give as a reason for their refusal that they are under obligations to me. So I hope my prospects are to a certain degree improved by the report getting about that my friends are found to be numerous.(7)
Cicero was ably helped by his brother Quintus who actually wrote a book about winning elections called Commentariolum Petitionis (‘the little handbook on electioneering’).(8) Many modern-day candidates would do well to read it. And to those who win, perhaps you will take another leaf out of the book of the conscientious Cicero and remember who voted for you and why.
As far as the voters go, we really do get the government we deserve. Someone will win – would you not rather have a say in who gets to decide your future, because, for sure, there are some very tough decisions to be made ahead? So, dear reader, if you or one of your friends or neighbours have no intention of voting, quote them the words of old Cicero “tell him I shall not be annoyed if he doesn’t come to my election”, then smile, tell them to disregard it and get a move on swiftly to the local polling station.(9)
