What is your vote worth?

I’ve been a bit absent. I had to have surgery before Christmas and have been recovering. There are a lot of things I want and need to write about; the ideas are piling up. But I’m going to start with the cost of democracy: what is your vote worth?

Despite the election only taking place last May, just eight months ago, we are now in a situation where a second councillor has stood down at Redruth Town Council. So what actually happens next? Because I didn’t know; until I became a town councillor.

Unless residents actively intervene, the vacancy will automatically be filled by co-option. Historically, a lot of seats on the council have been filled this way, perhaps because, like me, most people didn’t realise they could trigger a by-election; or how to do it.

To trigger a by-election, ten people on the electoral roll from the ward where the vacancy exists must write to the Monitoring Officer within 14 working days. An email isn’t enough; it has to be a physical letter, either posted or hand-delivered.

If that doesn’t happen, the alternative is co-option, meaning the decision is made by the existing councillors. With a vacant seat, that’s a maximum of 13 people. Some represent that ward, some live in that ward, and some don’t even live in the town or parish at all. What each individual thinks makes a “good councillor” will inevitably vary.

Technically, a decision could be made with as few as five councillors present, a majority of three. That’s an extreme and unlikely scenario; but the fact it’s possible is worth sitting with.

So the question is simple: would you like to vote?

The alternative is a by-election. Cornwall Council charges around £6,000 to run one. Turnout can be low, the last by-election in Redruth Central had an 11% turnout, but that still meant 246 people got to have their say. For me, that alone makes it worth it.

How can we tell people that voting is important, that democracy is worth fighting for, and then pick and choose when we think it’s worth the financial cost? How can we complain about disengagement while quietly opting for the least participatory option?

It’s also very easy for people to blame institutions they feel no connection to and believe they have no control over. When people say “Redruth Town Council are all self-serving”, it matters that we can say: there is something you can do about it. Vote them out. Vote them in.

Surely we want people to take some accountability; not to feel helpless, but to feel that their vote is important and actually matters.

So is the bare minimum really enough?

Legally, the Town Council has to display a Notice of Vacancy in a conspicuous place and on its website, if it has one. In Redruth, that amounted to an A4 sheet in the window of the Civic Centre, on a road with limited footfall, and a notice placed below the fold on the website.

The council also has two social media channels. When I asked whether the vacancy would be shared there, I was told by a councillor that we shouldn’t “cajole” people into applying. An officer said they would need to check with the Clerk, who was on holiday, before posting anything; while confirming that the council had done what was legally required.

In other words: the bare minimum.

At last week’s Town Council meeting, the resignation appeared in the Clerk’s report. It was made clear by some councillors that co-option was in residents’ best interests, that we couldn’t afford a by-election, and that historically some “very good candidates”; by what metric, I’m unclear, had been co-opted. It was also suggested that co-options are democratic.

But surely a local government institution should be a trumpet-blower for democracy; actively championing participation, not quietly managing it away. Not deciding it’s too expensive, or that councillors themselves are better placed to choose representatives than the residents they are meant to serve.

At a time when voter turnout is at an all-time low, trust in institutions is fragile, and populist parties are growing in popularity; irrespective of whether we agree with the outcome, and irrespective of whether the result would be the same as a co-option, the process matters.

I’ve published the vacancy and the route by which a by-election can be triggered, and I’ll continue to do so. I genuinely don’t understand how anything other than actively encouraging people to vote can be acceptable.

But once again, that choice currently sits with people who appear to have very little interest in widening representation.