Thoughts on turnout
In the wake of Westminster expenses scandals and allegations of sleaze will local voters show their disgust by refusing to turn up at the polling stations tomorrow? Or will Northern Ireland buck the trend across the UK by registering higher than average turnouts?
During the troubles the turnout here tended to be extremely high. In the famous Fermanagh by-election which returned the hunger striker Bobby Sands as an MP in April 1981 nearly 87% of those eligible to vote turned out. But was this a sign of a healthy democracy, or just people's determination to vote against the "other side" as much as for their own?
Westminster election turnouts have traditionally dwarfed European and council elections. But the trend in recent years has been downwards, especially on the eastern seaboard. In the 2005 General Election 62.5% voted here. That's down on the 2001 turnout of 68.4%.
Strolling around Antrim town centre gathering material for a piece on the local constituency contest, I was struck by the number of people who expressed complete disinterest in the election. One man boasted "never voted in my life". Another said "no one can really do anything about anything. They say they will do but it doesn't ever end up that way, does it". A woman spat out her contempt for the politicians, saying she would only consider voting if "they cleaned out Stormont and got rid of all the crooks."
They say the young generation are amongst the most apathetic. But my colleague Gareth Gordon found some enthusiastic first time voters when he attended an election debate at Ballyclare High School. One sixth former told him it was "hypocritical for us to sit here and pass comment on what the politicians are saying if we don't go out and vote". Another first time voter said that "democracy is not something that should be taken for granted. To have a vote and the privilege to vote is not something everybody has, so if we have it we should use it."
So maybe there's hope for the future. When the turnout figures come in we shall once again be looking out for an east west split. Fermanagh South Tyrone may never scale the turnout heights of the April 1981 by-election but the controversy over Rodney Connor's unity candidacy could well ensure heavy polling. However in the eastern constituencies increasing apathy might again be the order of the day.
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