听播客学英语 160 选举日

 　　Today is the first Thursday in May, which is often an election day in Britain. People in many parts of England are voting today in local council elections. In Scotland there are elections to the Scottish Parliament, and in Wales there are elections to the Welsh Assembly. Our elections today are not as important or exciting as the French Presidential election on Sunday, but you may be interested to hear something about how they work. There is a separate vocabulary note with a list of words relating to elections.

　　To be honest with you, many British people don’t think that today’s elections are important or exciting either. Turnout for the local authority elections in England will probably be low – normally only 25 to 30% of voters bother to vote in local elections. Turnout for the elections in Scotland and Wales will probably be higher. But election day is always important and exciting for one group of people – primary school children. Many primary schools are used as polling stations – that is, places where people go to vote – so naturally the children get a day off school.

　　This morning I went to my polling station at our local primary school. Apart from myself, there were only two other voters there. The officials at the desk asked me for my name and address, and checked that I was on the election register. They gave me a ballot¹ paper, which contained the names of the candidates and the political parties that they represent. There are seven candidates in our ward². I am allowed to vote for one candidate, by putting a cross beside his or her name on the ballot paper. Then I put the ballot paper into a locked ballot box, which is on the table beside the election officials.

　　This evening, after the polls close at 10pm, the locked ballot boxes will be taken to the local council offices in the centre of Birmingham. Officials will open the boxes and count the votes. Some people vote by post, and the officials will count the postal³ votes as well.

　　Each ward in Birmingham is electing one “councillor” in at this election. The person elected will simply be the candidate who gets most votes. We call this the “first past the post” electoral system – it is like a horse race; the only important thing is who gets to the finishing line first. We do not have proportional representation for local authorities, nor for elections to Parliament. But there is proportional representation for elections to the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly, and for the European Parliament. Some people think we should have proportional representation in all elections. The “first pass the post” system favours the big parties – Labour and the Conservatives – and naturally these parties do not want a change. Small parties, such as the Liberal Democrats⁴ and the Green Party, find it difficult to win any seats under “first past the post” – so they generally support proportional representation.

　　So what will happen in today’s elections? In Birmingham, the local authority is run by a coalition⁵ of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. The Labour party would like to regain⁶ control, but this is not likely at this election. Indeed, Labour is likely to lose seats at these elections, partly because the Labour government is unpopular at present. In Scotland, it is possible that the Scottish National Party will for the first time become the largest party in the Scottish Parliament. The SNP want complete independence for Scotland. We should know the results by tomorrow afternoon. I shall let you know what happens.

1 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

2 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

3 postal   

adj.邮政的，邮局的

参考例句：

• A postal network now covers the whole country.邮路遍及全国。
• Remember to use postal code.勿忘使用邮政编码。

4 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

6 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。