Hello!


Here in the UK we're having a referendum on our voting system in a couple of months time, with the aim of increasing Democracy by changing the way in which people's votes are cast.


We currently have a system known as 'First Past the Post', which is a charming metaphor for winning a race. In this system, the person with the most votes in the constituency wins the seat. The party which first passes the majority mark wins the overall election and gets to form the next government Many people say this is the fairest way as the winner is the person with the most votes overall. However, if a party does not achieve a majority then they must form a coalition with another party, hence the Conservatives here joining with the Liberal Democrats to make a government (to the upset of supporters from both sides).


The alternative we're going to be voting on is known as 'Alternative Vote'. In this system you number your choices based on how much you favour them.
As an example, we'll just use Labour, The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. You may vote 'Labour 1, Liberal Democrats 2, Conservatives 3', or you may vote 'Conservatives 1, Liberat Democrats 2, Labour 3'. There are multiple stages of counting the votes, with the lowest scoring individual being CAST OUT OF THE RACE at each stage and their second votes being distributed amongst whoever each voter voted as second. preference. This continues until one person has a clear majority. This is the system that political parties use to choose their leaders in the UK, but it isn't used to elect them to parliament.


Representation is the key argument in this discussion as many people feel that either system doesn't allow full representation by the population. Currently, for example, the Green party have 1 member of Parliament and the British National Party, in spite of gaining a higher share of the vote overall, has no MPs at all. Personally I'm happy with any system that stops fascists gaining seats, but this has caused upset and political apathy with a great deal of people.


The system the minor parties feel would serve 'democracy' is called Proportional Representation. In this system, seats are doled out based on percentages of the vote - so if you get 20% of the vote you get 20% of the MPs. This is a simplification however, and there are many types of formula for PR. Here in the UK we use Proportional Representation to elect our MEPs (Members of the European Parliament), but not our domestic MPs. The PR system in the last MEP election led to the BNP gaining two MEP seats in the European Parliament. (For those who don't know, the BNP are our party that hates minorities, BOLSHEVIKS and "sexual deviants". They're often affectionately referred to as the British 'Nazi' Party).


Which do you think is more fair, First Past the Post, Alternative Vote, Proportional Representation (where seats are distributed based on percentages of the vote in each region), or another system of voting altogether? What about Democracy itself - does our system facilitate the idea of 'Democracy' or do you think it has major failings? Would you be in favour of a Chaocracy or Athenian system of voting for individuals on a day to day basis?


What's the voting system like in your nation? If you're British, which way will you be voting in the referendum? What are your thoughts on the process of voting overall???


(By the way, I don't know which way i'm voting in the upcoming referendum yet, oh no!)

politics politics games politics

Add in 'KFC' and you just wrote the story of my life.

Wow, a key topic that's discussing the referendum that we're having here that's possibly going to change the way we vote forever, and it gets like a 20% boost in posts when some spambot comes along.

Fuck you UK people, I hope the AV system rapes your spouses. Or the First past the post...whichever you like.

That's the issue - it might not be whether or not you LOVE either system, but you have a chance to vote and show your preference. I mean, I personally don't know which way I'm going to vote. First Past the Post does help the larger parties, but is seen as most fair because of its simple "MOST VOTES = WIN" nature. AV allows more people's votes to count however, so could be seen as more representative.

You think maybe both sides could have done a better job educating the public as to what the whole thing actually means as opposed to spending the entire time so far shouting insults and hyperbolic accusations at each other? Such as Baroness Warsi claiming recently that AV will lead to people being LEGALLY FORCED TO VOTE and shit? I mean, I was all set to vote no to AV until the no-vote started pulling really dodgy moves.

I personally don't like PR and am pretty glad it isn't on offer though!