Guide to voting (for the not-so-politically aware)

Glasgow_Ceilidh_Band · Guide to voting (for the not-so-politically aware)

Hi folks. As someone who is shamefully unaware of Scottish politics, yet keen to use their vote, I'm looking to find out some of the basics of how to go about voting.

I thought I would ask this for the benefit of last-minute people like myself...

By the way, I'm not asking for people's opinions on who to vote for (just yet!), but really just how I should go about deciding.

I've got an inch-thick pile of election communications/spam sitting on my hall table, which I'm working my way through. I'd like some unbiased advice, though. Here are my first questions:

1.There are three different sections to the vote. Regional, Constituency and Council: What is their purpose?
2. Is it possible to waste your vote just by voting for someone who has little chance of success?
3. Should I be only considering between the two "main" parties for the first section of the vote?
4. To vote for a party, is there a site which compares the policies of the various parties to help me decide what I support?
5. Should I vote for the person first or the party first?

I'm based in Govan, by the way.

These questions probably seem really basic to all you politically-informed types, but I suspect that there are an awful lot of people like me, and I'd appreciate a bit of advice if you had the time to spare it before 10pm!

Cheers
GCB

SLG

Have a look at http://www.votescotland.com/stv/223.html

Takes you through step by step. Hope that helps Smile

Glasgow_Ceilidh_Band

nice cartoons Smile

Of particular interest was the explanation of the STV system here:

http://www.votescotland.com/stv/f...tDetailedDescriptionVS19Apr07.pdf