APATHY: NOW LET’S LOOK AT THE NUMBERS

7,069 REGISTERED — ONLY 3,467 VOTED

Peter Houghton – SAYING IT AS IT IS!

Yesterday I wrote that one of the biggest mountains PIOC must climb may not be Orihuela Ayuntamiento, the Generalitat Valenciana, the law or even the eventual fight for independence.

It may be something much closer to home.

Apathy.

The response was enormous, and many residents clearly recognised exactly what I was talking about.

But today I want to move beyond opinions.

Let’s look at the numbers.

Because the figures from the 2023 municipal election tell a story that Orihuela Costa needs to confront before we start getting carried away with predictions of 10,000, 15,000 or 20,000 potential voters in 2027.

According to the contemporary published electoral breakdown for Orihuela Costa, there were approximately 7,069 registered electors on the coast in 2023.

How many actually voted?

3,467.

That is approximately 49%.

Which means approximately 3,602 registered electors didn’t vote.

51%.

Read that again.

MORE REGISTERED VOTERS STAYED HOME THAN WENT TO THE BALLOT BOX.

And yet we wonder why the political voice of Orihuela Costa isn’t as powerful as its population might suggest.

7,069 BECAME 3,467

That is the number we need to remember.

Not because I want to criticise people for the sake of criticising them.

Because if we genuinely want change, we have to understand what happened.

Across the municipality of Orihuela as a whole, the official 2023 election figures record 46,924 electors and 30,636 voters — turnout of approximately 65.3%.

On the coast, according to the published local breakdown, turnout was around 49%.

That puts Orihuela Costa roughly 16 percentage points behind the municipality overall.

And that matters.

A lot.

Because political influence doesn’t come from the number of people sitting around a swimming pool complaining about Orihuela.

It doesn’t come from Facebook likes.

It doesn’t come from the number of properties.

It doesn’t come from how many people agree with independence over a coffee.

It comes from votes.

NOW LET’S TALK ABOUT 2027

We are already hearing exciting projections about the potential electorate in 2027.

Perhaps 10,000.

Perhaps 15,000.

Perhaps 20,000 people potentially entitled to vote.

I sincerely hope the numbers grow enormously.

But there is something we must understand.

POTENTIAL VOTERS ARE NOT ACTUAL VOTES.

We had approximately 7,069 registered electors in 2023.

We didn’t get 7,069 votes.

We got approximately 3,467.

So before anybody starts calculating how many councillors 10,000 or 15,000 votes might produce, there is a much more fundamental question:

HOW DO WE GET PEOPLE FROM THE ELECTORAL REGISTER TO THE BALLOT BOX?

Because 20,000 potentially eligible people does not mean 20,000 registered electors.

20,000 registered electors would not mean 20,000 people voting.

And 20,000 people voting certainly would not mean 20,000 votes for one political party.

There is an electoral funnel:

POPULATION

↓

ELIGIBLE TO VOTE

↓

REGISTERED TO VOTE

↓

ACTUALLY VOTES

↓

VOTES FOR INDIVIDUAL PARTIES

↓

COUNCILLORS ELECTED

Every stage matters.

Skip one and the calculations become fantasy.

62 HOMES — SIX VOTERS

One response to yesterday’s article demonstrated another part of the problem perfectly.

A resident told us that in her community there are 62 homes, but only six people could vote.

That doesn’t mean the other residents were apathetic. If they weren’t eligible to vote, they couldn’t vote.

But it demonstrates something enormously important.

Houses are not voters.

Population is not voters.

Padrón numbers are not necessarily voters.

Eligible voters are not necessarily registered voters.

And registered voters are not necessarily actual voters.

We need to stop mixing those numbers together.

If we are going to build a serious political strategy for 2027, we need to know exactly what each figure represents.

THEN THERE IS THE PIOC NUMBER

According to the official election result, PIOC received 1,382 votes across the entire municipality of Orihuela in 2023.

It was an impressive result for a new political party.

But it wasn’t enough to elect a councillor.

Now put that alongside the coast turnout figure.

Approximately:

7,069 registered.

3,467 voted.

3,602 didn’t.

And:

1,382 votes for PIOC municipality-wide.

Those figures should be pinned to the wall of every PIOC campaign meeting between now and May 2027.

Not as a criticism.

As a lesson.

Because finding another thousand supporters is important.

But persuading people who already complain about the way Orihuela Costa is governed to actually participate in the democratic process may be equally important.

“I NEVER VOTED IN THE UK, SO WHY SHOULD I VOTE HERE?”

That comment from a resident mentioned yesterday still bothers greatly me.

Because multiply that attitude by hundreds — or thousands — and suddenly the 2023 figures begin to make sense.

People want cleaner streets.

Better roads.

Better parks.

Better policing.

Better infrastructure.

Better schools.

Better municipal services.

Greater investment.

Some want independence.

But none of those things will be achieved by sitting at home on election day.

Nobody has to vote PIOC.

Nobody should ever be told which party they must vote for.

That decision belongs entirely to the individual.

But use the vote.

Because democracy cannot hear a voice that chooses to remain silent.

SOME PEOPLE WOULD LOVE TO VOTE — BUT CANNOT

Jim made another important point yesterday.

He owns property on Orihuela Costa and contributes through the taxes associated with that property, but as a non-resident he doesn’t have a municipal vote.

His frustration is understandable.

There are people who would dearly like a say in the political future of the place where they own property but cannot vote.

Meanwhile, thousands who were registered to vote in 2023 apparently chose not to.

Think about that.

Some people would love to have the vote but cannot.

Those who have it should value it enough to use it.

APATHY DOESN’T PUNISH POLITICIANS

Residents sometimes believe that refusing to vote somehow sends politicians a message.

It does.

But probably not the message they intended.

Because an unused vote doesn’t repair a road.

It doesn’t empty a bin.

It doesn’t elect a councillor.

It doesn’t change a budget.

And it certainly doesn’t create an independent municipality.

APATHY DOESN’T PUNISH THE POLITICIANS.

IT REWARDS THEM.

If Orihuela Costa wants greater political influence in 2027, the solution isn’t complicated.

Get informed.

Check your eligibility.

Make sure your details are correct.

Complete whatever electoral-registration procedures apply to you.

And when election day arrives:

TURN UP.

Because the most important number on election night won’t be the population of Orihuela Costa.

It won’t be the number of properties.

It won’t be the number on the padrón.

It won’t be the number of Facebook followers.

It won’t even be the number theoretically entitled to vote.

It will be the number of people who actually did.

In 2023, approximately 7,069 were registered.

Only around 3,467 voted.

We cannot afford to repeat that in 2027 if we are serious about changing the political future of Orihuela Costa.

Yesterday I said the first mountain might be apathy.

Today the numbers tell us why.

DON’T COMPLAIN FOR FOUR YEARS AND THEN STAY AT HOME FOR ONE DAY.

VOTE. BE COUNTED. MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Peter Houghton

Co-founder, PIOC

SAYING IT AS IT IS

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