This year, for the first time, our local elections are to be entirely run as a postal ballot in the hope this may lead to an increase in voter turnout.

Every house which has residents of voting age should get ballot papers and by now most of them should have arrived. They have to be posted back to the town hall or delivered there in time for the count.

Posting the ballot papers back to the town hall fills me with a degree of apprehension based on the reliability or otherwise of the postal system. I am also somewhat exercised by the thought of sundry dogs of varying pedigrees taking a dislike to some of the candidates and making a perfect dog's dinner out of the offending paper!

If my memories of delivering election literature are not too foggy, I can recall some interesting incidents as one struggled with a recalcitrant letter box to the background music of a ferocious animal whose sole aim in life appeared to be to remove, at the very least, the invading hand and, with any luck, to have the arm up to the elbow for afters.

Canvassing was a whole new experience, since you had no idea what lurked behind the door you so bravely knocked on and you sometimes came away with an interesting description of your parents' status in life! You also developed a bladder of iron and an inexhaustible appetite for all sorts of biscuits as you were invited in to discuss some of the finer points of running the town.

Of course, your interlocutor could almost always make a better job of doing it than you could - they just had not got around to standing for council. One of the first bits of advice given to new candidates was not to get trapped inside the front door but it was often overlooked in the candidate's anxiety to get a convert.

What will not be missed will be the job of being a teller at a polling station, especially if it turned out to be an absolutely terrible day weather-wise. Some stations were better than others for shelter and were very popular and it was not unknown for a degree of pulling rank to go on in order to get the better halls.

All this, of course, will go with the advent of the postal vote. No more friendly exchange of views with your rival candidates, no more dashing round in the car picking up last-minute voters, no more chatting with the council officers as you toured the polling stations to thank them for their careful work with the election registers. It will hardly seem like an election at all but it is one and it is vitally important we should vote for the future of the city. It will be a lot easier to cast a vote in this election than ever before and if the method is successful it will be used on future occasions. Perhaps in time we may get back to a much more representative result as people see how easy it is to make their voices heard.

Apart from the city council elections in May, there will be an opportunity in June for those over 65 to have another vote to elect the Older People's Council.

Again, it will be a postal vote and there will be a real chance for those of us who wish to do so to make a real contribution to the future of the city in relation to the needs of older people.

The Older People's Council had its first Annual Meeting last week where there was an opportunity to ask questions about the work of the council. If this organisation is to flourish and truly represent the voice of older people, it is essential a good supply of dedicated older folk indicate their wish to carry forward the work of the founders of the council.

So far, the Brighton and Hove Older People's Council is the only one in the UK but if it is seen to be doing a worthwhile job, it will become the torch bearer for others to follow. Never has the Grey Vote been so important.