I am finally sufficiently tired of the official harping on the local election turnout to publicly explain why I am not bothering to vote this year.

I am normally conscientious about voting. I always turn out for elections. I see it as my civic duty. So why am I not voting this time?

First, because I have nothing to vote for. Both the mayor and my local representative on the Council have already been elected unopposed.

Second, because the only minor officials remaining that I could vote for are tweedledum and tweedledee. I honestly can see no difference between them. Any vote I cast would just be a token gesture. I prefer to nudge the system as far as I can by withholding my vote altogether. Maybe if no-one votes at all something will change.

Third, I am opposed to the way local elections are structured. Our region is chopped up into pizza slices and residents are only permitted to vote for a specific candidate depending on the neighbourhood they live in. But many Council decisions are made by the entire Council together and affect everyone. There are candidates in other neighbourhoods that I would like to vote for, but I can’t because of my address. This manner of ‘representation’ is not representative at all. Instead I am stuck with a single councillor I cannot vote for or against because he was the only candidate. How is that democratic?

What, you say, I should just run for office myself? Well, we don’t all happen to be suited for that. I would far rather be able to vote for someone who wants the job and can do it well.