No, we haven’t forgotten that missing 6,000 voters in the East Devon area.

Last week, in answer to a question from a member of the public about how EDDC had failed to follow legal requirements to canvass homes where there had been no registration for the last three years, Chief Executive and Electoral Registration Officer Mark Williams said that we should not worry about it as we (i.e. he) will get there in the end. No mention of his failing to follow legal requirements, no mention of whether or not the 10 canvasssers have been appointed to try to catch up, no mention of how many of the (more than) 6,000 missing voters are now registered, no mention of the effect that the missing voters had on the recent European elections – just the statement that the end justifies the means. And we all know where that has got politicians in the past (though, of course, Mr Williams is not meant to be a politician he is meant to be a neutral civil servant).

Anyway, for Mr Williams and anyone else out there who wants to know how it SHOULD be done, the Electoral Commission has produced a handy guide as to when and how registration should be undertaken. Any chance anyone at EDDC will read it?

Here it is, so no excuses

http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/165656/IER-Guidance-on-use-of-resources-English.

Note: “The end justifies the means” was appropriately coined by the in(famous) Niccolo Machiavelli. Perhaps a few of his other sayings might be topical here:

“When you disarm the people, you commence to offend them and show that you distrust them either through cowardice or lack of confidence, and both of these opinions generate hatred.”

“Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.”

“The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.”