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Campaign For Change: The Voting System - by James Evans |
Proposed changes to electoral system:
• Voters have an ‘alternative vote’: electors would be able to cast a vote for their first choice candidate and a second tactical vote which would count in the event that their first choice candidate did badly. • Deposit for standing in a general election is reduced from £500 to £100 per candidate: anyone can stand as a candidate, democratising the process. Reasons for the proposed changes: Politicians love to tout the UK as a democratic country. Leaving aside comparisons with Athenian democracy, it may be possible to call our system of parliamentary delegation ‘democratic’ if the elections are fair and all voters’ preferences are actively expressed at the ballot box. Elections in this country may be fair. Unlike in Zimbabwe, there are laws protecting voters at polling stations from intimidation and electioneering, and teams of politically neutral vote counters are used. UK general elections have avoided controversy of the sort surrounding the lost votes in Florida at the 2000 US presidential election. On the other hand, media information suggests that the postal voting system in the UK is open to abuse. And politicians have tried to rig local elections in the past, as the ‘homes for votes’ scandal of the 1980s illustrated. Even if elections are fair, though, they are not democratic because many voters’ preferences are not expressed at the ballot box. In 2001, turnout dipped below 60% in a UK general election for the first time since the Second World War. The last two general elections, in 2001 and 2005, have had the second and third worst turnouts since 1900 . A failure to vote could be attributed to satisfaction with the current state of affairs; however, the political behaviour of registered voters suggests otherwise. The presence of two independent MPs at Westminster, and the acknowledged precedence of local campaigning over national party activity as a factor in the 2005 election results, show that the public are more responsive to personal engagement than party policy. A large number of first-time and second-time voters, the groups with the lowest electoral turnout, have been involved in public acts of protest about issues ranging from tuition fees to the war in Iraq. Voters are unhappy with the traditional mechanisms of politics: the large parties and the general elections. Politicians invariably bemoan voters’ recourse to ‘extremist’ groups such as the BNP. Citizenship classes at school are now compulsory, but there is apathy and complacency about electoral reform. Alternative voting would give small parties and independent candidates a chance of success. It would also stop voters from being forced into the unhappy choice between a tactical vote and a meaningless vote for their favourite candidate. Reduced deposits for candidates would enable any voter to afford to stand for election, surely an achievable ideal of parliamentary democracy. The deposit has been set at £500 to discourage ‘frivolous’ candidates, but, especially given candidates’ election expenses, a deposit of £100 and the 10 signatures of local voters required to register should suffice. Article written by James Evans may not be reproduced in any way, shape or form without the author's prior consent. 05/01/07 |