LIKE the majority of people, I would suspect, I feel the election of a police commissioner has been badly handled, unnecessary and is a general waste of time. Only the wealthy or those with financial backers could stand in this election. It is decidedly undemocratic.

That said, the election is taking place whether we like it or not, and as a councillor I take crime and antisocial behaviour very seriously. North Yorkshire has one of the lowest crime rates in the country – we live in a safe place – but 40 per cent of that crime is visited on the city of York. That’s why I shall be voting in this election, because I would rather see someone local to York elected who knows about crime problems in York rather than someone from the back of beyond.

Ruth Potter is a councillor in York. She’s not a member of my party, and is not someone I agree with about everything. However, she is knowledgeable as a member of the North Yorkshire Police Authority and I believe she will support local policing and local organisations like the Safer York Partnership. Vote for Ruth Potter for Police Commissioner on Thursday.

Dave Taylor, Green Party councillor for Fishergate, New Walk Terrace, York.

• I HAVE been following the issues of elected police commissioners closely and feel strongly against the election of a commissioner who is a member of a political party. I won’t be voting for either the Conservative or Labour candidate, but I will be letting them know my opinion.

I’ll ‘spoil’ my ballot paper. I’ll write on it that I strongly disapprove of a party-political commissioner and think this whole process has been a huge waste of money which could have been put into frontline policing or other under-funded services.

Not attending the voting station won’t register... it will just be called a low turnout. However, if large numbers of ballots have a message saying why a vote hasn’t been cast, that will be recorded, and that will send a clear message to whomsoever thought of this badly thought-out scheme. We may not be in time to stop this nonsense, but we can voice our opinions.

John Cossham, Hull Road, York.