Alternative Voting or Voting Alternatively?

The Alternative Vote is being hailed as a kind of John the Baptist in the British voting mechanism. It isn't quite the proper saviour, that would be Proportional Representation in all its glory. No, the AV system proposed by the Liberal Democrats and others (new converts to the Janus political thought - look both ways at the same time!) is a forerunner. It is not the real thing, but it will do for now.

Julia Gillard, who had an impromptu audience with the Queen during the Royal Wedding celebrations, is the Australian example of voting alternatively. It may work reasonably well in Oz, even if a couple of drongos get to give her the green light. Most Australians just vote for the candidate of their choice anyway. There are not that many second and third preference votes to give away to losers. And, apart from Australia, there are no democracies opting for this method as the epitome of high electoral practice.

I am hoping for a resounding NO vote on Thursday in the referendum. That may well upset the LibDems for a day or two, but they will not leave the Coalition over it. This was never the best choice to wave in front of the electorate. I prefer voting alternatively to the alternative vote. The former gives me a result I can identify with even if I changed my party allegiance. The latter gives me an MP who could have come third at first but gets to win because a whole group of fair weather friends just thought he or she might be reasonably sort of you know okay! But the moment some crisis occurs these half-hearted voters will be causing merry hell. It's a recipe for a democratic deficit.

Vote NO, that's the thing. And here's Pamela Greener with a ditty (and a couple bum notes for good measure!) on the whole thing -

Posted in: Alternative Vote,referendum