AV Vote: What will you do? Options

[Richard Garvie]

Which way are you going to vote? I'm probably voting no.

[pinkfluffyclouds]

what are we voting on?

[Sidney]

Yes what are we voting on ??

[Richard Garvie]

on whether to adopt AV as the new voting method. First past the post is what we use now (one vote per person) and AV is when you list the candidates in numerical order. That way, if you vote BNP say, and they come last, your vote is used again based on who your second preference was. If it was Monster Raving Loony Party, and they came second last and nobody had 50% of the total vote, your third preference would then be used.

I personally think we should only get one vote per person, and whoever has the most votes should win. Search yes to AV and No to AV on google for the official sites of both campaigns. I will warn you though, it all appears to be based on ideaology rather than facts, so I'll just stick with what I think is best and that's what we should all do, vote based on what we believe is the most effective way to elect MP's etc.

[dannyboy]

You should have added 'Don't Care' in your poll.

Typical politician!

[Simon]

and the point of voting is...........

[dannyboy]

and the point of voting is...........

Do you mean in this poll or in general?

[pinkfluffyclouds]

I vote yes then anything to upset the apple cart

[Sidney]

What's proportional representation then ?

[Simon]

Do you mean in this poll or in general?

In General - I and many other people i know have lost all interest in voting. There are no politicians out there that listen to what this country actually wants/needs

All parties seem to be too similar in what they are saying and none of them actually follow through with any promises.

MP's are a joke!!!

[dannyboy]

In General - I and many other people i know have lost all interest in voting. There are no politicians out there that listen to what this country actually wants/needs

All parties seem to be too similar in what they are saying and none of them actually follow through with any promises.

MP's are a joke!!!

Too true. You only have to read this board.

I have never voted & never will. I almost voted for our own Apolitical Democrats, but actually voting was not being Apolitical, so couldn't.

[James_Trinder]

The current system is an absolute disgrace. In NW Hampshire where I currently reside the local Conservative MP achieved 58.3% of the vote in the 2010 general election. If I vote anything other than Conservative in this constituency then my vote is essentially a wasted vote. I would personally like to see a more direct link between the percentage of votes cast for each party nationally and the percentage of MPs from each party elected. In my opinion this is the only way to reduce the falling turnout and revive interest in politics. Obviously the two main parties are against this because in different parts of the country they both hold seats with huge majorities and general elections at the moment can essentially be fought just in the marginal seats, which reduces campaign expenditure.

[NWNREADER]

With the current system the vote is for the person, and the winner is supposed to work for all constituents regardless of who they voted for.
All other systems are a dilution of that, moving towards a vote for a party, with the winning party deciding who the representatives will be based on their own priority list.

I prefer the current system on the basis it is not perfect, but is better than the others.

[Simon Kirby]

The current system is an absolute disgrace. In NW Hampshire where I currently reside the local Conservative MP achieved 58.3% of the vote in the 2010 general election. If I vote anything other than Conservative in this constituency then my vote is essentially a wasted vote.

Your vote wasn't wasted, you just didn't vote for the guy who got the majority of votes. That's how representative democracy works.

The rules for AV are very like the rules fore One Tune to the Tune of Another, excepting they're more complicated.

I'm voting no.

[Cognosco]

In General - I and many other people i know have lost all interest in voting. There are no politicians out there that listen to what this country actually wants/needs

All parties seem to be too similar in what they are saying and none of them actually follow through with any promises.

MP's are a joke!!!

The question should be who would you preferred to be screwed by A? B? C?

I can fully see why the common man has lost all faith in politics.

[user23]

The current system is an absolute disgrace. In NW Hampshire where I currently reside the local Conservative MP achieved 58.3% of the vote in the 2010 general election. If I vote anything other than Conservative in this constituency then my vote is essentially a wasted vote. I would personally like to see a more direct link between the percentage of votes cast for each party nationally and the percentage of MPs from each party elected. In my opinion this is the only way to reduce the falling turnout and revive interest in politics. Obviously the two main parties are against this because in different parts of the country they both hold seats with huge majorities and general elections at the moment can essentially be fought just in the marginal seats, which reduces campaign expenditure.

Sounds like you're in favour of Proportional Representation then.

I'll be voting Yes for AV. I think it's a fairer system than FPP.

[Simon Kirby]

Sounds like you're in favour of Proportional Representation then.

I'll be voting Yes for AV. I think it's a fairer system than FPP.

Alright then, my first preference is to vote no, and then my second preference is to vote for whoever User voted for.

[Richard Garvie]

The current system is an absolute disgrace. In NW Hampshire where I currently reside the local Conservative MP achieved 58.3% of the vote in the 2010 general election. If I vote anything other than Conservative in this constituency then my vote is essentially a wasted vote. I would personally like to see a more direct link between the percentage of votes cast for each party nationally and the percentage of MPs from each party elected. In my opinion this is the only way to reduce the falling turnout and revive interest in politics. Obviously the two main parties are against this because in different parts of the country they both hold seats with huge majorities and general elections at the moment can essentially be fought just in the marginal seats, which reduces campaign expenditure.

Even with AV, if the Conservative MP get's over 50%, nothing changes. Same here in Newbury, Benyon would still be the MP with or without AV last time round. The only Labour members I know who want this are those who live in Tory Labour marginals and they want it because they think it gives them a free ticket to Parliament. The Lib Dems want it because they will have more seats overall (well, providing their vote doesn't collapse after the coalition like the greens is expected to in Ireland).

I agree with a lot of posts on here, the only reason people would vote for AV is to get some kind of advantage, which is wrong. I don't know what the answer is, but it certainly isn't AV.

[Simon Kirby]

Richard, I agree with your analysis in terms of what the parties believe, but are the libdems right to think they'll get more MPs? With PR yes, but AV? Al lthings being equal AV will still pretty much return the same result as FPP won't it? I can't see any particular reason for the alternative vote of the third placed candidate to go preferentially to the second placed. Am I missing something?

[Richard Garvie]

Richard, I agree with your analysis in terms of what the parties believe, but are the libdems right to think they'll get more MPs? With PR yes, but AV? Al lthings being equal AV will still pretty much return the same result as FPP won't it? I can't see any particular reason for the alternative vote of the third placed candidate to go preferentially to the second placed. Am I missing something?

Depends on how many candidates stand etc. As someone else pointed out, under FPTP, an MP should represent the whole community, and if not, will soon find themselves out on their ear. AV may even help Labour boost it's share in Newbury, but that's no reason to support it on it's own. If I was selfish, I'd be going for it like a shot, but having met people like Brian Burgess, David Yates and the like, AV would pretty much kill off any chance of them getting elected. How is that a fair system? If somebody wants to stand on a local ticket, they shouldn't be excluded by a system that is designed to favour the big three parties. Deep down, the Tories and the Lib Dems know this, as do Labour. But like everything at the minute, the politicians we have seem to vote for whatever suits them and that's not right.