'This year, with Covid, we were asked by several people if we would hold an election forum online.' Photo: by Glen Carrie on Unsplash
Votes of conscience: Frances Voelcker on online hustings
‘The candidates’ responses were thoughtful and serious.’
For years, Porthmadog Quakers have arranged public events prior to elections, as a service to the wider community. We invite community and faith groups, as well as individuals, to submit questions in Welsh or English, and share these with the candidates beforehand. We have had between thirty-five and sixty people in the hall, and they speak in either language, with translation provided via earphones to any monoglot English. A door collection usually covers the cost of hiring the venue and paying the translator.
This year, with Covid, we were asked by several people if we would hold an election forum online. Fortunately, I found a local community enterprise company, Cwmni Bro Ffestiniog, that has the kind of Zoom account that can provide a separate channel for translation, and makes no charge for its use by community groups. I also found a grant for the cost of simultaneous translation.
The challenge then was to contact the candidates (the registrar makes public only postal addresses, and sometimes these are party headquarters). The deadline for registration is one month before the election, giving, at best, three and a half weeks to contact the candidates, find out which days are possible, send them the questions, and publicise the event. In Dwyfor Meirionnydd (North West Wales) there were eight candidates this time. Four responded promptly. Using my previous contacts list, I could put out the call for questions, and share information about the online event complete with link and password. It was also put on the Porthmadog Facebook group by a supportive local county councillor. The final pieces in the jigsaw were: a chair; a timekeeper; and a host to manage Zoom. The bilingual vicar of Betws-y-Coed, Stuart, kindly agreed to be the chair. I was the timekeeper; and Ceri from Cwmni Bro Ffestiniog was the Zoom host.
Six candidates agreed to participate but on the day three of them sent apologies, so we had Mabon ap Gwynfor for Plaid Cymru, Stephen Churchman for the Liberal Democrats, and Charlie Evans for the Welsh Conservatives. This meant they could each have three minutes per question, and we managed to cover ten of the twelve questions, even with some questioners probing further. The candidates’ responses were thoughtful and serious. There was a remarkable degree of agreement, and for the most part a clear will to co-operate with other parties if elected. I noticed two points of particular relevance to Quakers. The first was that both Mabon and Steve went beyond their party positions, in being personally pacifist and opposing the use of land in Wales for military purposes. The second was that Charlie, unlike the others, was not supportive of Citizens Assemblies or similar panels, stating that political representatives have been elected to make the decisions.
With poor wifi connections, and various other human and technical errors, our audience this time wasn’t huge. It all felt rushed, too, but we coped, and afterwards received several messages of appreciation and thanks. As a means of outreach, this seems to be moderately successful.
