With the local elections taking place today, Dr Jonathan Carr-West says: get the processes right and the results will follow, especially when seeking to ensure faith in the system of democracy

By the time you read this polls will have opened and voting will be under way in the 2018 local elections. In the space between predictions of what might happen and analysis of what did, it is worth taking a moment to reflect on the mechanics of these elections and of what they represent within our ongoing conversation about democracy.

For many people today is all about sheer hard work. An army of council employees across the country will have been burning the midnight oil to prepare for election day and will be putting in immense shifts today to make sure everything goes smoothly. Many readers of this magazine will be among them and they all deserve our thanks and appreciation. And of course the team at LGiU will be working through the night to bring you results as they happen.