Anybody who has registered to vote and who is a citizen of the UK, EU, or Commonwealth can vote in Scottish local elections. You can even vote in Scotland  if you are resident in another part of the UK for the rest of the year. If you live in a university hall of residence or have signed up with your local council, you should have received a polling card to confirm your eligibility.

To vote, all you need to do is go to the polling station listed on the card on the day of the election. You don’t even need to take the card with you! Just turn up and vote.

How do I vote?

Scottish local elections use a single transferable vote system. This means that each council ward elects between three and four candidates based on a preferential numbering system. When you mark you ballot you should list your preference, with the number  1 next to your highest ranked candidate.  Then put a number 2 next to your second favourite, and so on. You can rank as many as you like or as few as you like.

You may also be used to voting in a first past the post system, in which there is only one winner and where you may not feel you can vote for the party you prefer as it will allow a party you dislike to win. The single transferable vote is a proportional system, meaning that you can vote for any candidate in the knowledge that your vote will stand a good chance of getting them elected.

When do I vote?

Polling stations will be open all day on Thursday May 3^rd, and polls close at 10pm. The results will generally be released the following afternoon.

To find out where your local polling station is, click on the links below:

Aberdeen

Aberdeenshire

Edinburgh

Glasgow

Stirling

If you’re in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling or Aberdeen you can vote for a Young Green or Green candidate and put the issues that matter at the top of the local agenda. That means:

New, tougher legislation to deal with landlords and the standard of property

Community energy companies to save you money and home insulation schemes to give you a warmer winter and a cooler climate

A common sense public transport policy to keep fares low and improve the quality of your service

Local tax reform to introduce a fairer tax system which better reflects what people can afford to pay.

Cycling infrastructure to reduce road deaths and to help you commute to work or uni by bike.

A strong voice for environmental and social justice in our towns and cities.

Find your local Green manifesto and candidate here, and use your 1st vote to invest in Scotland’s future.

In Edinburgh and Glasgow the city council administrations are on a knife edge after infighting, corruption allegations and defections within the ruling parties. Both Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City councils have ostracised their constituents by pushing through projects in the interests of a minority of people, and in Stirling people are incensed by council plans to build a link road on the last surviving patch of Green land next to Stirling University.  The Greens have pledged to end the lack of vision, financial mismanagement and lack of transparency which has dogged local politics in recent years. The Greens, in cooperation with the Young Greens, have drawn up measures designed to help younger people in both work and education. At the heart of these plans are proposals to come down harshly on landlords who rip off their tenants, to assure enough affordable housing that people are not forced out of city centres, and to keep on funding many of the community utilities used by young people for recreation.

Unsurprisingly, the local manifesto also contains the most robust environmental policies of any political party in Scotland. Cheaper and cleaner public transport, increased provision for cycling, and community owned energy companies providing cheap and green power are all on the Green wish list. With Young Green and Green candidates standing all across Scotland, we believe that we have the right kind of politics to reinvigorate Scotland’s communities. The full national manifesto is available to download here

Through this committee I discovered the Scottish Green Party and after a well-placed ‘Gaudie’ (Aberdeen student newspaper) article I was invited to the Scottish Young Greens Annual General Gathering. From there I was elected female co-convenor of the group which led me to write this…

The Scottish Young Greens are a great introduction to ways of Green politics, using a more social environment to help make politics accessible to everyone. As co-convenor I want to help promote this great aspect of the group, opening the party’s youth wing to all of Scotland’s young left. My first task in the position is to help set up an Aberdeen University Young Greens; a society that I have felt has been missing from the Universities long list of societies for a long time. This coming year I hope to create the most exciting, politically active society AUSA has to offer. We will draw on the Scottish Young Greens example of an open social group to provide an opportunity for young people to get together on and around campus for discussion evenings, guest speaker events and promoting important campaigns in support of the Scottish Green Party.

If you’re young and green in Aberdeen University or surrounding area get in touch and get involved in getting this exciting new venture going.

Joanna (SYG Co-Convenor)

convenor@scottishyounggreens.org

Some of us have a serious chance of being elected, while others view this as an important opportunity to provide a Green voice in areas where we are running as a dark horse candidate.
Wherever we are standing and whatever our chances, we believe that young people are capable of making an impact on the way our local government is run.

Standing for election is often a step taken by older party members who have the financial means and career security to commit to the demands of being a councillor. People under thirty who are still finding their way in life and taking tough decisions about jobs, relationships and education can easily become marginalised in the political process. However, they are the people who can be helped most by the fair, democratic and sustainable politics which Greens believe in, both today and tomorrow.

Local government can make a big difference to the lives of young people. Many of the community facilities which our councils are responsible for are used by young people at the bottom of the economic ladder, whether it be the subsidised football pitches we play on or the bus services we use because we can’t afford to – or choose not to – own a car. Housing shortages force people into long term rents, many of which are overpriced and ill maintained. Affordable housing is well on the way to becoming a very serious issue for an entire generation.

There are also areas where young and old alike have a mutual interest. Whilst climate change acts can be passed in parliament, local councils have the power to radically reduce emissions, waste and pollution by taking simple measures. Green jobs create a future for today’s youth, integrated transport and serious cycling provision can change the way we travel for the better, and measures can be taken to diversify local business and prevent young people becoming nothing more than cogs in a Tesco economy.

More than anything else, when we stand as candidates we bring with us an ambition and vision for the future which stems from the problems we have experienced first hand. With some hard campaigning and a bit of luck we hope to get Young Greens into the heart of local politics, looking after our cities, towns and villages for today, as well as building them for the benefit of tomorrow.