IN the last European elections we were introduced to the idea of party lists.

No longer could I select the individual I wanted, now I had to vote for a whole party and trust it to select suitable candidates.

The result of course is that people have even less idea who represents them in Europe and even less connection with the democratic process.

Last time there was no protest by opposition parties at this block vote approach to democracy. Sadly, I have heard of no complaints by candidates this time; but then I have heard nothing from any candidates at all.

Now we in Yorkshire are being used as guinea pigs in all-postal voting.

I have voted in every election - local, national, European, or referendum - for the past 30 years. I have seen it as exercising my right and performing a duty to go to a polling booth and have at least a slight influence on the governance of this country.

Introducing all-postal votes is an attempt to increase the woefully low turnouts. But, if it succeeds, it will have simply meant that people who couldn't care enough about the issues to vote before will have taken 30 seconds between Friends and EastEnders to scrawl a cross on a piece of paper.

Is this really what democracy is meant to be about? Encouraging people who don't care to vote is not getting people engaged in the political process.

In Belgium it is a legal requirement to vote, that guarantees a high turnout, but does it guarantee the quality of the voting process?

Because the Government has chosen to reduce the election to a farce, and the Opposition has decided to raise barely a squeak, I have decided not to waste my vote in a pointless exercise.

Clive Tiney,

Towthorpe Road,

Haxby, York.

...VOTE for us or the BNP will get in - is that the best York's local political leaders can come up with (Letters, May 28)?

The British National Party succeed where there is no credible alternative to their grassroots campaigning, feeding on the dissatisfaction of the electorate with the main party candidates.

BNP successes should be a wakeup call to the major parties, telling them that they need to get their acts together and engage with the electorate.

Instead, the major parties trot out more glib phrases about having to stop the BNP.

The result will be a combination of more people refusing to vote and more people voting for the BNP and other minority parties.

Now that we have a postal-only ballot, with all its bureaucracy and opportunities for fraud, I am seriously considering not voting for the first time in my adult life.

I will probably not even bother to spoil my ballot paper because I am denied the right to reject all candidates.

Dr Duncan Campbell,

Albemarle Road, York.

...I RECEIVED my postal vote for Yorkshire and the Humber region today.

I opened the envelope and found inside two envelopes marked A and B, a ballot paper with a bar code on it, a Declaration Of Identity attached by perforation to my name and address, and a "How to vote by post and make your vote count" instruction leaflet.

The instructions ran as follows:

Point 4: "Mark your vote clearly and in secret". Where precisely am I supposed to go to vote? The bathroom?

Point 5: After you have completed the ballot paper, fold and place it into the envelope marked A with the ballot paper number showing through the envelope window. Make sure it is sealed securely. However, on examination it transpired that envelope A did not actually have a window.

My Declaration Of Identity required that I should sign it and that the witness should also give their "signature or mark".

Apart from the fact that despite more than 100 years of elementary education there are still those who are illiterate, this declaration becomes a nonsense because how will those who cannot read know how to complete it?

Neither does it prevent the possibility of electoral fraud.

How is the returning officer to know that the witness's signature or mark is genuine?

What checks and balances are in place to ensure that my sealed ballot paper is not opened by a person, or persons, dealing with the main envelope that contains my address and identity, thereby allowing them to find out how I voted?

Ms A Nicoll,

Newton Kyme, Tadcaster.

...WITH all the excitement of the European and local elections going on at the moment, isn't it time to reintroduce new rules regarding voters?

We all know convicted felons, lunatics and the young are not allowed to vote, but what about lawyers, solicitors, estate agents and bankers?

With their insider knowledge they probably already know too much about how markets will be affected, and the end results that would follow the election of certain candidates.

Let the campaign begin here...

Eddie Vee,

Official Monster Raving Loony Party,

Wenham Road, York.

Updated: 10:10 Tuesday, June 01, 2004