6 August 2007

Dear Sir

The Electoral Commission have told us that the £760,000 spent in Sheffield on telephone, internet and advance voting pilots in May had no real impact on turnout (Star 2 August). Sheffield has proved that it can run election pilots - it should get back to focusing on the basics of elections, with more time spent on checks on the postal vote system which is currently wide open to fraud.

The system of issuing a polling card and voting at a polling station has been tried and tested over more than a hundred years. It is simple, cheap and keeps fraud to a minimum. Postal votes should be limited to people who are housebound or working away. We can only hope that the government recognises this for future elections.

Voter disillusionment is the cause of low turnouts. People see councils stripped of their power by successive governments who now control 75% of their spending. The adversarial nature of local politics and sham consultations with local communities just turn them off. The vote in June to reverse Labour's plan to merge Wisewood and Myers Grove schools should have been an opportunity for politicians, officers, teachers, governors and the two communities to come together to look at genuine alternatives. Instead communication between the two biggest parties has hit a new low, reduced to shouting matches in the council chamber. This must change - people have a real sense that democracy isn’t working for them both locally and nationally.

Yours Sincerely

Eamonn Ward