Alternative Vote - am I bothered? You should be.

[jollydiane]

Do you actually understand what the alternative vote could mean or does it just make you sleepy?

It could have long lasting changes to how government works. The seems to be very little coverage on how it works and what the consequences could be.

Agree we could do with more coverage. I read an interesting critique which I actually found pretty compelling in an op ed piece Norman Lamont (that was a surprise to me to!) did last Saturday.

2 key things he raised were first, the H of Lords are trying to amend the vote so that a minimum proportion of voters have to vote for the change rather than just a majority of those who do bother - ie a significant change to the nature of our democracy shouldn't be carried by 16% of the population voting for it just because only 30% of the population bothered at all.

And second that one of the key problems with AV is that the votes which get redistributed are the successive choices of the people who voted for the candidate who gets least 1st place votes. Ie it's more likely to mean that people who hold very minority views get their votes redistributed - eg BNP voters etc, rather than a more 'representative' view of the second or subsequent choices of the majority of voters as their 1st choices are more likely to have stayed in the running.

Made me think, and as it stands I'll be voting No in any referendum.

I think AV is better than first past the post.

But given the current sentiment, i can't see people voting for this if they think it will mean another Lib dem coalition.

It's also far from PR which is the Lib Dem utopia.

I wonder how much coverage of AV we will see in the right wing media. They have no interest in publicising it after all.

Just a quick thank you to the very well thought out arguments on both sides. Such debates really helps.

You'll still only get one MP.

Only this time it will be the one that nobody really wanted.

Instead of having lots of people loving their MP and lots hating them, you'll get almost everyone "not liking them very much".

Think I'd prefer to go on hating them TBH...

cakeretention - a fair summary of AV.

Instead of FPTP that some people love and others hate

Or proper PR that the second lot love & the first lot hate

we'd have something that nobody likes very much . . .

However, I'm still inclined to vote 'yes' on the grounds that it may be something of an improvement.

pinkteddy: the official yes and no campaigns start today. I expect the amount of media coverage will rise between now and May. Media of all political persuasions will cover it, probably in similar ways to how other major political stories are covered.

Anyone have an idea yet of which was The Sun will go?

Not a fan - FPTP produces strong and effective government, AV will increase the likelihood of coalitions. I would rather have 20 years of Labour majority rule than 5 more of this Coalition rubbish - and I say that as a died-in-the-wool Tory!

Thanks whiter I'm all for it but you set it out better than I ever could.

That was really helpful, Whiter. I'm keeping an open mind for the moment, but you set it out very clearly.

I wonder if Nick Clegg and Dave or on here in disguise.

In a referendum I would be voting no to AV. Why would I, as a one party voter, even think about specifying a tory/libdem/anyother as a 2nd/3rd/4th choice. It's my candidate or not as far as I'm concerned.
And I disagree that it does not give some voters more than one vote. Of course it does. If those subsequent votes are added to the votes a candidate has already received then in the effort to acquire 51% of the votes, then that is an additional vote for the casters

The main reasons I'll be voting Yes in the Referendum on May 5th is because the Alternative Vote is a better system than First Past the Post. Under the current system only 1/3 of MP's are elected with more than 50 % of their constituents, under AV each MP would need to have a minimum of 50 % (this why the BNP support a No vote because they stand no chance of getting 50 % of the vote). AV is a preferential system of voting and not proportional, so is no more likely to cause coalitions than FPTP and we can choose our preferences meaning we can vote for a smaller party first and a bigger party second, so no more wasted votes.

Each political party uses a preferential system of voting to elect their leader and many charities and Trade Unions use it. Voting Yes in the Referendum will be an evolutionary step forward, like extending the franchise to the working class and women. The referendum is not about Cameron or Clegg, but about finding a better way to elect our MP's. AV is better than FPTP.

It's my candidate or not as far as I'm concerned.

Whilst i understand your logic, its a bit unrealistic isn't it?

I mean if my daughter didn't get into my first choice of school, would I say "It's all or nothing?"

In the real world, we often have to make choices which are not our first preference. AV just reflects that.