Electoral+Reform

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Electoral Reform in the United Kingdom



Alternative Voting System The link demonstrates the alternate voting system adopted in 2010. In essence, it will be a ranking system rather than a system in which you vote for one candidate. In this way, all candidates receive votes based more on the proportion than on only a majority winning. It helps to more accurately show the popular vote in a politically diverse country.
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On May 5th, 2011, a voting referendum will be held that deals with the alternative voting system. The alternative voting system would replace the current electoral system: first-past-the-post. The alternative voting system uses the same 650 constituency boundaries as the current FPTP system. Voters will still elect a single candidate to represent them, but instead of marking the one prefereed candidate, they will rank the candidate in order of preference. If a single candidate polls 50% of the vote (meaning 50% of the #1), they will be elected as MP. When no candidate recieves 50% of the vote, the candidates will have their #1 votes redistributed to their second choice. This will be repeated until one candidate recieves 50% of the vote.

media type="youtube" key="WZzfZ9hCxq4?fs=1" height="222" width="258" A vastly oversimplified cartoon helps explain the difference between First Past the Post and the Alternative Voting System by using ice cream sales as an example.



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This graph shows a guess as to how the 2010 election would have turned out under different voting systems. According to it, the 2010 Per cent voting would result in a other, or minorities, gaining a greater percent of votes, which seems to be according to popular vote.

According to survey results, over three fourths of Britons believe that a new, more representative form of elections should be instated in Great Britain. However, less than half of the same group say they would support a coalition government over a one party one, which is problematic because proportional representation governments almost invariably have coalition governments. What the public has now latched onto in hopes of curing the conundrum is to adopt a third way, of Alternate Voting. In this system, people would be able to rank their choices, thereby allowing themselves more influence while keeping the possibility of a hung Parliament relatively low. Public views for electoral reform are generally chanelled through the Electoral Reform Society, while public views against it are expressed in both the Conservative and Labour Party followings. Additional impetus for reform comes from the fact that members of the European Parliament are chosen by proportional representation.
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[|This website] advocates electoral reform by protesting the unfair representation caused by the first past the post system. It claims that only 47.16% of voters actually voted for their MP while 52.84% did not vote for their MP and are not adequately represented in Parliament.

Conservative - They support the current "first past the post system" as they greatly benefit from the artificial majorities it creates. Still, Conservatives wish to reduce the number of MPs and create constituencies representing an equal number of citizens. Liberal media type="youtube" key="diAjr64gpXI" width="425" height="350" align="center"
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Liberal Democrats - Providing the most pressure for electoral reform, this party traditionally receives a greater proportion of the popular vote than seats in Parliament. They desire a proportional representation system. media type="youtube" key="z6JFIRNT5Jc" width="425" height="350" align="center"

Labour - As a major party it is surprising that Labour had included electoral reform in their 2010 manifesto; however, their proposed system still retained single member districts. This alternative voting system allows voters to rank candidates while remaining majoritarian.

media type="youtube" key="lGVY1dSgIig" width="425" height="350" align="center"

1. In past years, general elections have usually taken place on the same day as local government elections in the United Kingdom. However, the alternative voting system could result in polling being held on the same day as elections for issues of devolution, such as parliamentary elections in Scotland and Wales and elections for the mayor of London. By having these two equally important elections coincide, the general elections could be over-shadowed by the elections pertaining to devolution. 2. In past elections, up to two-thirds of MP's were elected on less than 50% of the vote. Essentially, a majority of the population is represented by an MP that they did not vote for. To many this seems extremely undemocratic. The AV system of voting will change this challenged system. The voting system will force MP's to receive more than 50% of the votes in their constituencies. It should strengthen the smaller parties and allow citizen's "second choice" to factor into the process. 3. However, changing the voting system would have a small impact on outcome of the previous elections. Analysis by Electoral Reform Society shows the Liberal Democrats would have only gained 22 more votes under an alternative voting system. (See chart to right).
 * Changing the Westminster election system has important implications for the future in Great Britain. **



This cartoon highlights the issues with the current FPTP system. The minority groups feel that by changing the electoral system, they will be more fairly represented in parliament.