The publication 'Germ', which is available from Tramway, takes its title from a temporary public art work sited by the artists in George Square on the day of the elections. This work, a one metre square slab of marble marked printed with edited extracts from the Representation of the People Act 1983 (in particular, those sections of Scots Law which refer to those people who are not entitled or eligible to vote), brought together issues concerning representation, social exclusion and public space.
Introduction
In general, those people who did not participate in the first elections for the new Scottish Parliament on 6 May 1999 fell into two categories: those who were not eligible to vote under Scots Law and those who were eligible to vote but chose not to.
Those
not eligible to vote include the following groups:
People
aged under 18 and too young to vote
People
not listed on the electoral register because they are homeless and not
registered with a hostel (and therefore without a postal address)
People not listed
on the electoral register because they chose not to register
Convicted criminals
serving sentence in prison.
Patients detained in an Intensive Psychiatric Care Unit under Section
26 of the Mental Health Act (this does not include self–sectioned
patients)
People
who do not have legal residence in the UK (illegal immigrants or asylum
seekers)
Those
who were eligible to vote under Scots Law but chose not to include the
following groups:
People who are
disaffected with, or apathetic towards, mainstream party politics and
chose not to vote
People who are
disaffected with, or apathetic towards mainstream party politics but chose
to spoil their ballot paper (although it could be argued that this is
a valid form of participation)