Alternative Vote Referendum - May 5th 2011

[TW]Fox

[TW]Fox

[TW]Fox

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I appreciate there is probably a thread on this in SC but I specifically want this in GD because its important for everyone - we must all vote on this, therefore it is important that we all educate ourselves as to the two options so we can vote based on an informed opinion. There is nothing worse than voting on something you know nothing about or do not understand.

Currently I have not formed an opinion on which system is the best, so thought it might be useful for people to discuss the pros and cons of each, or provide links to explanations, in this thread.

Anything that helps us make an informed decision on which way to vote has to be good, right?

So - its down to you. Which system do YOU feel is best, and why?

More info here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11243595
 
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I've been talking about this in another thread, but it's probably better here.

I'll be voting yes. It's not PR, but it's as close as we're being offered.
 
I'm keen for this to become an educational and informative thread - therefore I'd appreciate it if you would explain WHY you feel the way you do. It's the why and how thats important, not the actual vote you make.
 
I whole heartedly agree with the first paragraph. If there's anything the last general election taught me is that almost everybody I know, from labourer to doctor is almost apathetic about who they vote for or why.

I have to say it's a bold statement saying we can get an informed opinion here, lots of ideas would be better.
 
Poll people? Would be interesting to get some preliminary results.

I'll be voting yes, but I'm not looking forward to more greens in power
 
Was thinking of making the same thread! No-one has given a real reason yet either way though.
 
Unless I hear a strong argument otherwise, I plan to vote for AV to avoid tactical voting; ie Labour have no chance in constituency X and I don't want the conservatives, so I'll vote Lib Dem, which is what happened in the last election.

If everyone votes for who they want, it should be a fairer system and be more representative of the majority vote.
 
~~#M-Bizzle#~~ said:
No point having two threads.. I wonder, can the admins merge stuff here?
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I don't want this thread merged with a thread about publicity material relating to the referendum, but thanks for the suggestion.

What I thought would be helpful is for people to say WHY. All we hear lately is 'Vote this way! or 'Vote that way!' but nobody seems to be able to confidently explain why Yes or No is the best.

I thought maybe we could try and change that here.
 
Voting no to AV.

Why? Simples. One person, one vote. Not one person, several preferences. The public at large are intellectually challenged enough as it is, don't make the simple act of putting a cross on a piece of paper more mentally challenging for them than it already is.
 
I genuinelly thought this would be a simple and easy thread to follow with a genuine value to the forum. I mean how hard can it be - explain which you think is the better system and why. But of 19 posts so far only a few have actually done this.

I do hope this isn't reflective of society as a whole when we go to vote on May 5th.
 
I, too, am undecided on whether or not to vote in favour of AV yet. On the one hand, I don't think that it would be a concern based on the way I vote and could possibly even be an improvement, as I always make sure to thoroughly study each party's manifesto and rank them in my mind already, so the only difference to me would be that I get to express how I feel about the selections as a whole.

However, I do understand the concern that Theophany raises, as I know people who barely put thought in to their one mark as it is at present. If a large number of voters just rank from two onwards at random, then it could end up with a severely skewed distribution of seats.

I'd like to know more about how it works in situations where it is currently employed and to see whether or not any countries actually use it in order to elect their governments.
 
I'm undecided, but I'm worried that a yes vote will mean the end of any debate to electoral reform which is a bad thing as I really want us to have a proper PR system in place in the foreseeable future. For this reason, I'm tempted to vote No.
Plus, and this isn't really a great argument but I'm in such a safe Labour seat it really doesn't matter who I vote for. My choice have no hope of ever getting this seat.
It's a shame we haven't got a List System for Westminster as well, but obviously that'll cause even more confusion.
 
I'd like to see a table of how the result of previous elections would have changed if the system implemented had been AV+ instead of FPTP.

What I like about FPTP is that is gimps the smaller stupid parties. I'd be concerned that AV would increase the presence of organisations like the BNP and Greenpeace.
 
Robbie G said:
I'd like to see a table of how the result of previous elections would have changed if the system implemented had been AV+ instead of FPTP.
Click to expand...

Yes, this would be hugely useful I think.

What I like about FPTP is that is gimps the smaller stupid parties. I'd be concerned that AV would increase the presence of organisations like the BNP and Greenpeace.
Click to expand...

Interestingly thought it seems BNP is against AV which suggests they dont think this is the case?
 
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