UK Alternative Vote referendum

[Mark]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12485084

There will be a referendum in the UK on the 5th May 2011 to decide if we should switch to the 'Alternative Vote' for the next General Election which is scheduled for 2015.

How will you vote?

Personally I'm not sure and I'd like to hear more about it, but I fear like most issues we won't get the facts so much as obfuscated rhetoric! And, it's hard to separate the voting system from the politics of the moment, anything the Lib Dems propose is clearly an attempt to make sure they stay in power, which given their present run probably isn't a good idea.

[ArrowsFA1]

AV represents a logical progression from first past the post. Preserving the traditional one member, one constituency, it ensures all MPs have a real mandate while delivering greater choice and eliminating the need for tactical voting.

http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/article.php?id=55

...anything the Lib Dems propose is clearly an attempt to make sure they stay in power...

I disagree Mark. If there is one thing the Liberal Party->SDP->Liberal Democrats have been advocating over the years it is for a reform of our electoral system. This perhaps comes from their years being out of power, rather than their current situation, and it is likely that the current proposals do not go as far as they would like, but are a result of the deal made with the Conservatives.

[Dave B]

AV isn't the solution, but it's been proposed so that when it's defeated (as it surely will be: almost every news group will be actively campaigning for the "no" vote) the Coalition can say "well, we did ask".

[Mark]

I disagree Mark. If there is one thing the Liberal Party->SDP->Liberal Democrats have been advocating over the years it is for a reform of our electoral system. This perhaps comes from their years being out of power, rather than their current situation, and it is likely that the current proposals do not go as far as they would like, but are a result of the deal made with the Conservatives.

Yes, they've been campaigning for years, but as a means to try to get into power, it just so happens they got into power using the existing system and of course now they want to stay there.

I don't think a situation where we we have a change in government but the Liberal Democrats are still part of it is a particularly good one!

[ArrowsFA1]

Here are details of the many different voting systems in use at home and abroad - http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/article.php?id=5

[Rollo]

We have an election in NSW in March which yet again uses the Alternative Vote. It will be again counted by hand, and we'll know who the next Premier is typically by 10pm after the polls close at 6pm.

Antony Green, the ABC's Election Statistician has this to say:
http://blogs.abc.net.au/antonygreen/...australia.html
Excerpt:
Where most UK constituencies would deal with 30-40,000 votes, the average Australian House of Representatives' count involves 90-100,000 votes. While equipment similar to note counters is used in post-election check-counting, the distribution of preferences is done entirely by hand and without difficulty. The tales of expensive counting equipment are not true.

The telling thing is the tag at the end:
From my experience of over two decades covering more than a half-century of Australian elections conducted using the Alternative Vote, I happen to think the UK has nothing to fear from the Alternative Vote.

As a voter from practical experience, even if you have 15 candidates, is isn't hard to write 1 to 15 on the ballot paper. At the end of it, at some point you will have chosen your preference for every candidate.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

In last years election the Lib Dems share of the vote went up but they ended up with fewer MPs. Clearly something has to do change with the voting system.

I wonder what percentage of the population has an MP that they didn't vote for?

[Mark]

I wonder what percentage of the population has an MP that they didn't vote for?

Given that MP's are usually victorious with 30-40% of the vote at a guess I'd say 60-70%, but that's similar to any democracy.

The only real way to get around that is to have multiple rounds like they have in some countries, with the top two in the first round fighting it out head to head in the second.

[wedge]

Back in 6th Form I was a supporter of coalitions but now I'm not so sure.

Instead of AV I'd prefer the AV+ system as proposed by the Jenkins commission http://news.bbc.co.uk/news/vote2001/...00/1205536.stm

Lib-Dems are now f****d as it is. I can't see how people will say yes to AV. They'll be Kingmaker making shoddy backroom deals and therefore it will only exacerbate the problem of politicians of being liars.

[BDunnell]

Electoral reform is not an issue that has ever — even when I used to work in politics and be a Lib Dem voter; not any more — exercised me at all. So I shall not bother to vote in this.