News
Government Review of Electoral Systems
The Government, at last, published its long-promised desk Review of Voting Systems on 24 January 2008, but commenting on it may take a while as it is 197 pages long.
Although the Review does not recommend any change to the existing system for electing MPs, the Secretary of State, Jack Straw states it is intended “to inform the continuing debate on electoral reform” and The Executive Summary of the Review states that the Government welcomes "contributions to the debate" so it will be up to all of us who support reform to contribute to that debate and keep electoral reform on the political agenda.
You can download a copy of the review from http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/voting-systems-review-full.pdf
Petition to the Prime Minister
There are 2 petitions on the Downing Street website that may be of interest.
The first petition is a system neutral call simply for a fairer system of elections to the House of Commons: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/No2FPTP/. This is the one that you should sign if you want a fairer voting system but don't necessarily support STV.
The second petition called on the PM to introduce legislation for all British elections to be by Single Transferable Vote (STV): http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/STVvoting. This petition is now closed, but you can visit the link to read the Government response
None of the Above goes to Court
David Gatchell of Tennessee is so eager to get 'none of the above' on the ballot that he is running for senator and governor and wishes to use 'none of the above' as his middle name. When the case gets to court Mr Gatchell will argue that this name has been widely reported in the press and therefore it ought to be used on the ballot paper. For more details see the Houston Chronicle Article.
Public Consultation on crime, justice, citizenship and equalities
The Labour Party is currently consulting the public on these areas. Supporters of Make Votes Count in West Sussex might like to take this opportunity to submit their own views on the voting system under the headings of equality and citizenship. Details of the review can be found on this Labour Party webpage, follow the 'Have Your Say' link to submit your views.
Scotland Update:
in May 2007 the local elections will be held using single transferable vote (STV). STV was supported by the SNP, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Green Party as a fairer alternative to the first past the post system. Arbuthnot Commission recommended STV for the election of Scottish MEPs and an open list (instead of closed list) system for electing the Scottish Parliament.
Note that the Richards Commission recommended STV for the Welsh Assembly but the UK Government rejected this recommendation.
You can obtain more information from http://www.fairsharevoting.org/.
Burlington USA
Burlington is set to be the first town in the USA to use alternative vote (often called instant runoff voting or ranked choice voting in the US) to elect its Mayor. Many American towns, cities and counties look set to follow as there are currently at least 15 states with bills pending to introduce alternative vote elections. Please see Boston.com for more details. Posted by: John Cross 6 March 2006
The Power Inquiry
The Power Inquiry which investigated a number of issues relating to Democracy in the United Kingdom has now reported. The major problem of first-past-the-post today, as identified by the Inquiry, is that it requires large numbers of voters to choose a party from a very restricted menu of options and even then leaves many of those votes with no impact on the final result. Posted by: John Cross 27th February 2006
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