The right to vote

BY Jason Moore SO the number of non-Spanish European Union residents who have actively stated their desire to vote in next year's local elections has fallen. If the official figures are to be believed and there are 70'000 residents registered with their councils but only 11'000 want to vote then it is voter apathy of the worse kind and most likely the interest which has been shown by political parties in the so-called foreign voter might disappear. While a few thousand votes can make a difference in some areas in the bigger municipalities its just a drop in the ocean. So why are fewer people wanting to vote? Well, I suspect that it is a mixture of many things ranging from apathy, to little understanding of the local political landscape and the belief of some expatriates that it is best to keep a low profile. There is also the fact that at the end of the day you are voting for a Spanish political party and politics as we know are different in every country. I sincerely believe that it is a sad state of affairs that more people are not interested in voting. I suspect that to get more of the 70'000 people who are eligible to vote to do so a major campaign effort would have to be launched with speeches and all information in different languages. Quite rightly the mainstream parties do not feel that this is worth all the additional energy and cost and also it could be said that so-called foreign voters are getting priority treatment. Whatever, the reasons though I would say that it is important to vote and our voice should be heard.