IT IS election time again - one third of district council seats are up for election at the end of this month. The 17 district council seats across the region will be decided after telephone and internet voting next week as well as at the traditional polling booths on May 1.

Parish elections were due to take place as well, but all except one have been cancelled because not enough candidates came forward to fight the seats. Rachel Pegg looked at some of the issues surrounding the local elections.

Technology tackles electorate apathy

THE local elections on May 1 will allow people in Stroud to vote by telephone or on the internet for the first time as well as at traditional polling stations.

The Stroud district is one of the first in the country to offer such a modern service, launched in London only last week. But will this be enough to counter voter apathy?

So few people stood for the 98 parish council seats on offer this year that nearly all have been elected unopposed.

Stroud town councillor Chas Townley was one of them. In a letter to the Stroud News & Journal he asked whether these local politicians could be said to truly represent the electorate.

"Is local democracy alive and well in the Stroud Valleys?" asked Mr Townley.

"Are people really interested in parish and town councils? Do local councillors have democratic legitimacy where they have been elected without an election?"

Nominations had been invited for 98 seats in eight parish councils.

Of those, 73 were filled unopposed and 22 were left vacant due to a lack of candidates. In Cainscross and Thrupp less than half the seats were filled.

The only parish in the entire district where there will be a parish election is Stroud Town Council's Trinity ward. Mr Townley also pointed out that candidates seemed reluctant to affiliate themselves with political parties.

Only one Conservative and one Liberal Democrat bothered to describe themselves as representing the party, he said.

Labour offered 13 candidates, nine of them for Stonehouse Town Council, and the Green Party put forward 12, with 10 for Stroud Town Council.

The remaining 52, stood either as independents or with no description.

Parish councils may not have as many powers as the district or county but they often control budgets of ten of thousands of pounds.

Many arts and youth groups rely on them to fund community activities in an area.

Parish councillors are also given the chance to comment on planning applications and request that decisions are considered by district councillors rather than planning officers.

How to vote

ANYONE who has not opted to vote by post or proxy will receive a sealed poll card showing a two-part code number. This number is unique to each voter and cannot be re-used once a vote has been cast - neither can it be replaced if lost.

Internet voting will open at 7am on April 24 and close at 12 noon on April 29 using a secure and dedicated web-site which will guide voters through the whole process.

Votes can be cast by this method from anywhere internet access is available, making it much more convenient for busy people.

Telephone voting will also be available from 7am on April 24 to 12 noon on April 29 and can be used by anyone with a touch-tone phone (anyone with a dial type phone will not be able to use this method).

The personal two- part security code shown on each poll card is used to protect each vote, as with internet voting. Easy verbal instructions will guide the voter through the telephone process.

A freephone number will be provided, although anyone using a mobile phone will be charged according to their usual contract. At any time, voters may stop the process and access a 24-hour helpline.

Both telephone and internet voting will be available to any elector who has not applied to vote by post or proxy. The poll card may also be handed in at any traditional polling station by anyone wishing to vote in person.

PARISH COUNCIL CANDIDATES

The only parish council election to be held in Stroud district is in the Trinty Ward, where there are four candidates for the three seats:Ronald Frederick Nichols (Lab); Adrian Thomas Holger Lawton (Green); John David Marjoram (Green); Iveta Szaboova-Baxendale (Green).

In all the other parishes the following candidates have been elected unopposed: CAINSCROSS: Graham Keith Stanley (Fiercely Independent), Cainscross; Darren Paul Jones (Lib Dem), Cashes Green East; Jenny Miles, Cashes Green West; Ronald Smith (Ind), Cashes Green West; Robert Eccles (Lab and Co-op), Ebley; Andrew Malcolm Roberts, Ebley. HORSLEY: Derek Downey Osborne; Simon John Allen; John Wakelyn Allway; Dawn Clarke; David Albert George Howell; Teresa Anne Wright. MINCHINHAMPTON: Roy Price Nicholas (Con), Amberley; Stephen George Glanfield, Amberley; Charles Edward Morriss, Brimscombe; Nicholas John Murphy, Brimscombe; Jennifer Ann Bailey, North Ward; Gerald Francis Ford, North Ward; Peter John Munday, North Ward; Susan Mary Smith, North Ward; John Stanley Waddington, North Ward; Eric Bryan Wall, North Ward; Jane Elizabeth Archer, South Ward; Elizabeth Cope (known as Eilish), South Ward; Alan Gordon Wheeler, South Ward. NAILSWORTH: John Russell Nicholson; Susan Barbara Nicholson; Keith Lindsay Norbury (Lab); Mohammad Khurshid Akhtar; Aaron Maxwell Hamblyn; Norman Ian Kay; John Lewis; Susan Margaret Reed; Lesley Jane Williams-Allen. RODBOROUGH: Graham Blackshaw, North; Karen Helen McKeown, North; Mark Rogers, North; Robert Basil Tiley, North; Brian Charles Oosthuysen, South; Mary Hickman Brown, West; Mavis Valerie Buxton, West; John Lionel Fletcher, West; Dawn Elizabeth Quest, West. STROUD: Kevin David Cranston (Green), Central; Carol Jill Kambites (Green), Central; Michael John Williams, Central; Andrew Read (known as Andy Ind), Farmhill and Paganhill; Graham Anthony Wickens, Farmhill and Paganhill; Everest William Wilson-Copp (Green), Farmhill and Paganhill; Gwendoline Winifred Belcher (Green), Slade; Sheila Booth (Green), Slade; Robert James Green (Green), Slade; Bernard Kieth Brown (Ret and Ind), Uplands; Charles Henry Jeffrey Townley (Ind), Uplands; Linda Karen Townley (Ind), Uplands; Charles Edward Burling (Lab), Valley; Shelagh Joan Hume (Ind), Valleyp; David Michael Green, Valley. THRUPP: Julie Louise Beattie; Marjorie Jean Clapham; Geoffrey Thomas Sibley; June Audrey Trayler. STONEHOUSE: David Elliott Drew (Lab), Central; Robert Frederick Vick (Lab), Central; Leslie Walter Williams (Lab), Central; Karin Rotraud Von Degenberg (Lab), South; Martin Joseph Kilminster (Ind), South; Susan Latchford (Lab), South; Richard Royston White (Ind), South; Christopher Anthony Brine (Lab), North; Margaret Jean Hams, North; Francoise Marie Jones (Lab), North; Gary Dean Powell (Lab), North; Mattie Ross (Lab), North; Richard James Warburton (Ind) North.

DISTRICT COUNCIL CANDIDATES

One seat in each ward listed is up for election.

CAINSCROSS: Darren Paul Jones (Lib Dem); Carol Jill Kambites (Green); Norma Joan Rodman (Con); Anthony Edward Shortt (Lab). CAM EAST: Miranda Anne Clifton (Lab); Julian William D'Arcy (Con); Keith Ian Pearce (Lib Dem). CAM WEST: John Edwin Dapling (Lib Dem); John Leslie Fowles (Lab); Lawrence Hall (Con). CENTRAL: Kevin David Cranston (Green); Anne Christine Snelgrove (Lab); Deborah Mary Sutherland (Lib Dem); Michael John Williams (Con). CHALFORD: Leslie Philip Banstead (UK Ind); Barbara Brown (Lib Dem); Elizabeth Jane Stanford (Con); David Arthur Taylor (Lab); David Ian Wood (Green) DURSLEY: Anthony Harold Gardiner (UK Ind); Brian Arthur Marsh (Lib Dem); Daryl Matthews (Lab); Loraine Vivienne Patrick (Con). FARMHILL AND PAGANHILL: Catherine Anne James (Con); Sheffie Boysie Mohammed (Ind); Mark Rogers (Lib Dem); Lesley Williams (Lab). MINCHINHAMPTON: Elisabeth Bird (Con); Adrian George Blake (UK Ind); Margaret Lynne Edmunds (Lib Dem); Audrey 'Jo' June Smith (Lab & Co-op). NAILSWORTH: John Tudor Jeffreys (Con); John Russell Nicholson (Green); Keith Lindsay Norbury (Lab); Myles Patrick Robinson (Lib Dem). RODBOROUGH: Martin Arthur Alder (Lab & co-op); Nigel Robin Cooper (Con); John Reginald Howe (Lib Dem); Steven Penny (Green). SLADE: Gwendoline Winifred Belcher (Gwen) (Green); Henrietta Dorothy Nichols (Lab); Deborah Susan Westgate (Con). STONEHOUSE: Philip Charles Bevan (Con); Christopher Anthony Brine (Lab); Sally Pickering (Green): Milner Woodhead (Lib Dem). THRUPP: Patricia Ann Carpenter (Con); John Lee Howgate (Lab); Colleen Rothwell (Lib Dem); Martin John Whiteside (Green). TRINITY: Christine Beckingham (Tina) (Lib Dem); Kenneth Edward Brown (Con); Marta Rutherford Cock (Lab); John David Marjoram (Green). UPLANDS: Karin Rotraud Von Degenberg (Lab); Linda Jeffreys (Con); Henry Boscawen Boddington Leveson-Gower (Green); Alan Lomas (UK Ind); Ian Gavin Owen (Lib Dem); Linda Karen Townley(Ind). VALLEY: John Leslie Appleton (Lab); Tobias Oliver Ray Green (Toby) (Green); Michael Robert Stayte (Lib Dem); Brian Fredrick Wheatley (Con). WOTTON-UNDER-EDGE: Sidney John Derek Gowers (John) (Con); Paul Christopher Smith (Lib Dem).