'Action needed to avoid low turnout'

“Don`t hold your breath,but it might be a start, where the voters will be able to apply reasoned pressure to convince these commissioners that one section of the community,are conducting antisocial behavior,that todays police force are having diffiulty handling. They might get the idea of travelling on,better still,change their (at times) anti social behavior.
By using your vote,we all could benefit from this new change,as some changes can be for the better!!”

“If the ballot papers are not bilingual I won't be voting.neither will thousands of others. Not because I don't understand English obviously,- but as a matter of principle. I thought we'd achieved equality!”

“Swanseavoter
True. There has been little reported in the media and what is reported has been mainly about hopefuls who have been barred from standing because they were found guilty of small crimes when they were in their teens.

Police & Crime Commissioner Candidates 2012
South Wales Police
Former police sergeant-turned lawyer Michael A Baker has declared that he will stand for election as an Independent candidate.
Former prison officer Caroline Jones is the Conservative Party candidate.
Former First Minister and current Labour MP Alun Michael, who represents Cardiff South and Penarth is the Labour candidate.
Retired businessman Antonio Verderame is to stand as an independent candidate.

Neathboy234
The AV referendum may have returned a different outcome if the ballot hadn't taken place on the same day as the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly elections.”

“Good responses all round on the minimum turnout point. I do wonder what sort of commissioner we'll have in the end as there's been precious little reporting that I've seen on the candidates! I do admit to only being an irregular Evening Post reader but shouldn't there be more information out there on the other media and via leafleting?”

“GretaCarbo
Your right it was removed right at the end. with all the ping pong going on between the two houses of Westminster it reminds me why i am in favor of devolution so much.

BTW it was for the actual vote, and once in would have mad no difference to the smaller parties.”

“Neathboy234 at 2:30pm
Not so.
Lord Rooker (Ind) introduced an amendment requiring a 40% turnout for the ballot to be valid.
In the House of Lords, Rooker's amendment was supported by Labour, a majority of cross-benchers, ten Conservatives and it was passed by one vote.
The threshold amendment was overturned by the House of Commons.
The Bill went back to the House of Lords and the Lords re-instated the threshold.
The Bill went back to the HoC and the amendment was removed again.
The Bill became an Act of Parliament without the minimum turnout clause.

Bear in mind that it was a referendum proposing an AV system.
The minimum turnout clause would not have suited the smaller political Parties.”

“hacker_jack sadly there is no min vote and we will end up with someone getting in on a very small percentage. I don't really care who it is and i will not be voting. Anyone other than Weston will do for me.”

“If this vote was about whether to have them or not then the minimum turnout thing could work, however as the decision has already been made then we have to have a winner, voiding the vote in an area will just mean they do it again.”

“GretaCarbo I've found what I've been looking for.

For the AV voting system to go through it was require a minimum turn-out of 40% for the new system to be adopted.

I was of course talking about the actual vote to introduce AV. Labour and the Tories were dead against it. For once i found myself on the same side as 90% of the posters on here and voted in favor of it. I take it most on here voted in favor of it, well all the UKIP supporters anyway. It was UKIP's big hope, perhaps only chance of ever getting an MP. Sadly for them it was never to be”

“Neathboy234
The Alternative Vote system uses the votes cast.
If on counting the 1st choice votes a candidate has 50% +1, that candidate wins.
If no one has 50% +1, the candidate at the bottom of vote count is eliminated.
The pile of ballot papers for the eliminated candidate are counted again only this time the 2nd choice box is used.
Elimination of candidates at the bottom continue until someone has over 50% of the votes.

The AV system has nothing to do with turnout.”