Londoners are all hot and bothered over the exact voting procedure they will be faced with in the mayoral election, according to the Evening Standard. The use of the second preference system appears to be causing some puzzlement, with 30% of those surveyed by the paper admitting they were unaware of its employment in tomorrow’s vote, and just 39% claiming they were fully clear about the process.
It seems that amidst all the insults traded, TV interviews debated and transport policies berated, little attention has been paid towards the need for Londoners to make three choices tomorrow, electing both a candidate and party for the London Assembly in addition to their first and second choices for the Mayor gig. Quoting the views of some of those polled in its survey, the paper paints a picture of a frustrated electorate, piqued at the additional responsibilities of second preference and London Assembly voting. One adversiting exec, 25, said:
I wasn't even sure if I would vote, and for someone like me it makes me less likely to because there's so much more to think about than simply who you would want to be Mayor. I was expecting one piece of paper but suddenly it's like an exam.
An exam? Really? Maybe a very easy exam, like a GCSE in beginners box-ticking or a Key Stage 1 in cross-administering. For this Londonista, frustration at the lengthiness of the Londoner’s five minute quad-annual exercising of their democratic duty is quite depressing, but it does at least point to a lack of campaigning for the London Assembly posts. Anyway, with the race still neck-and-neck, second preference votes are predicted to be the election’s major deciding factor.