The Alternative Vote (AV) system is going to be offered in a referendum, possibly on the same day in early May that various elections are being held, now that the Bill has passed from the House of Lords back to the Commons for the last time.
It's a really odd voting (and vote-counting) method, involving multiple "preferences" rather than a single vote for each seat being contested. Some electors will have their "second choices" also counted in the process, while others will have theirs ignored. Third choices and beyond could also come into play, until a point is reached where the added together figures give the impression that one candidate (per seat) has received more than half the votes.
Of course, it's all an illusion, but it looks as though the voter is "more in control" by having more than a single choice.
There's a very good piece on the subject in the Wall Street Journal (Europe) by that publication's 'editorial page editor' (whatever that means) Brian M Carney, and I think is one of the best ways to get under the skin of the matter and gain a better grasp of why it is being pushed by some, but has little genuine benefit (in fact, probably the direct opposite) to the electorate. It is no surprise that hardly anywhere on Earth is this system operated!
Showing posts with label Voting Systems. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Voting Systems. Show all posts
Friday, 18 February 2011
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Tweet of the day - 29 Dec 2010
From the Labour MP Tom Harris to John Rentoul:
He obviously had a response back from Rentoul, as just a dozen or so minutes later he then tweeted this back to him:
This is something many of us already knew, of course, but it is good to have a Labour MP admit that this whole "AV referendum manifesto promise" was really just party politics and had nothing to do with improving our country's electoral system.
It is therefore small wonder that 114 (so far) Labour MPs have stated that they will vote No2AV, now that the election is over and they are no longer in government. They probably never believed in the policy in the first place, but were stuck with it pre-election. That no longer applies.
"The AV referendum Labour promised was all about "short term tactical gain" in the first place."
He obviously had a response back from Rentoul, as just a dozen or so minutes later he then tweeted this back to him:
"I don't doubt it, but fact is it was one of GB's bright, last gasp attempts to win over LibDems. Nothing to do with principle."
This is something many of us already knew, of course, but it is good to have a Labour MP admit that this whole "AV referendum manifesto promise" was really just party politics and had nothing to do with improving our country's electoral system.
It is therefore small wonder that 114 (so far) Labour MPs have stated that they will vote No2AV, now that the election is over and they are no longer in government. They probably never believed in the policy in the first place, but were stuck with it pre-election. That no longer applies.
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