Parly Plan for Non-Voters to Face Fines

By LINDSAY McGARVIE Political Editor

BORED voters face being ordered to the ballots by law – or face a fine.

Leader of the House of Commons Geoff Hoon has accepted an invitation to meet Labour members of the Scottish Parliament to discuss the plan to improve upon recent dismal election turnouts.

In last month’s Glasgow Cathcart by- election only 32 per cent turned out to choose Labour’s Charlie Gordon as a replacement for fire-raiser Mike Watson – down 45 per cent from the 2003 Holyrood election.

In Livingston, Labour’s Jim Devine replaced the late MP Robin Cook on a turnout of 39 per cent – a 19 per cent fall on the Westminster General Election last May.

Alasdair Morrison, Labour MSP for the Western Isles, described the May 2003 Scottish election turnout of 49.5 per cent as "a crisis for Scottish democracy".

He said: "People don’t vote in the greater numbers today as they don’t have the same sense of duty that they used to have.

"Compulsory participation in elections in high-profile countries, such as Belgium, Austria, Italy and Australia, has managed to engage people in politics, and it is a move that Scotland – and the rest of the UK – should consider"You can compel people totake part, but you can’t compel them to vote. If they really want to, they can get into the polling station and eat their ballot paper."

Hoon said: "My concern is that if turnout continues to fall requiring people to vote in a democratic election every four or five years does not seem to me to be a major attack on people’s civil liberties."

Political analyst Dr Peter Lynch, of Stirling University, said: "Improved turnout will give parliament and government the appearance of being more legitimate."

SNP deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon, whose party is in favour of compulsory voting, said: "Political parties have to convince people that there is a real reason to vote and that will re-engage them in politics."

A date for the meeting between MPs and MSPs will be announced soon.

What stayaways of Cathcart think# Ian Ray, 33

ELECTRICIAN Ian is deeply apathetic about voting and believes it is a "waste of time".

He was undecided about compulsory voting, but said politicians should make more of an effort to engage voters.

He added: "I cannot really see the difference between the politicians at all, so I don’t bother.

"Maybe compulsory voting would be a good thing if they wanted to raise the turnout, but it would be better if people had more confidence in what they stood for and believed what they said#

Emma Kelford, 35 SCOTTISH Power worker Emma said she and her husband decided not to vote in the by-election.

She was dead against compulsory voting.

She said: "I never intended to vote but if I did I would have voted for the Green Party.

"My husband abstained, too, because he thinks the Scottish Parliament is a waste of money.

"We should not be dictated to about whether we vote or not.

"I think if you go down that road, you are on very dangerous ground#

Christopher Burke, 24

BUILDER Christopher said neither he nor any of his friends had ever voted in any election because they believe their ballot won’t change anything.

He said: "I could not really be bothered to vote.

"I have never voted and I am 24. I have never seen the point of doing it, to be honest.

"I don’t really think it would make any difference."

"None of my friends vote so I don’t see how forcing people could make it any better as we would probably just spoil the paper anyway# Nicola Comasky, 23FULL-TIME mum Nicola said: "I do not have the time to vote and do not really pay much attention topolitics.

"I do not understand the politicians and they all talk rubbish.

"They do not explain their policies.

"They tell people what they think they want us to hear rather than what they really believe.

"A lot of people do not know who to vote for, so you should not be made to.

"We are adults and we should be able to do what we want#

Joe Dobson, 50 UNEMPLOYED Joe said: "Politicians do nothing for you.

"They are only in it for themselves.

"I have never seen a politician actually visit my area or spend any time here.

"They just come to collect their wages.

"There are a lot of problems in this area such as litter and nothing is done about it.

"It should be compulsory to vote really because it might mean we did not have to suffer the same person or party getting in power all the time# Samantha Wallace, 19CHIP shop worker Samantha admitted she found politics "boring" and claimed she had nointention of ever voting.

She feels too unsure of the candidates and their policies.

The teenager added: "I do not really know who to vote for.

"I have never read a manifesto and I don’t know what any of the parties stand for.

"Politics is dull and boring and it’s not something I ever discuss with my friends.

"I don’t think compulsory voting is the right way to go about trying to change things