General Forum - The Alternative Vote (aka AV thread) with Poll! - Page 1

Nothing like a good old fashioned smear campaign

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Writer's Release
My Collection

BRING BACK THE VPM !!!!!!!!!!

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Forever
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I was seriously tempted to go for the comedy option.  Personally I think the voting system should be run along the lines of having a booth which each candidate stands in.  Each voter goes to the booth of the candidate of their choice and kicks them as hard as possible in the nuts.  First candidate to pass out wins.

I think AV is a terrible system.  Worse than first-past-the-post.  At least the implementation they're talking about inflicting is.  These disqualifications rounds mean that the cranks who vote for the smaller, weirder parties, their votes have more value than people who vote for the "traditional" parties.  It could mean even more strategic voting in future.  A more sensible implementation would be for all the alternative votes to be counted during the count, with second- and third-choices etc having a proportion of the value of first-choice votes.  That way the voters for parties who normally lose their deposit don't potentially have more influence on the final result.

Oh, and Pete - what have you got against smear campaigns?  A lot of womens' lives are saved by such screening.

J Mark Oates
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Life Is Too Short To Take It Seriously
sprockethole.myreviewer.com

Good bad or indifferent if you don't vote for AV you stand no chance of progressing to a fairer system (PR) in any of our lifetimes.

Snaps

Every Third Car
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I used to be with it, but then they changed what 'it' was.
Now, what I'm with isn't it, and what's 'it' seems weird and scary

But PR is little better.  All that will guarantee is more nest-feathering bastards in Westminster and coalition Governments being the norm.  If you asked me to suggest a better system, I'd be stumped, as all voting systems are inherently dodgy.

I wonder if we might not be better doing away with politicians altogether and have a Parliament made up of a cross-section of the country, called up to serve their local constituency for say a month at a time like jury service.  They would do the only voting as such, electing professional Ministers to run and champion the respective Ministries and deciding budgets and the like.

J Mark Oates
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Life Is Too Short To Take It Seriously
sprockethole.myreviewer.com

What doesn't seem fair currently (just one point) is that we don't get to pick WHO stands for each party in our area. Ashford is a totally safe Conservative seat in Parliament and our Borough Councillor for Biddenden also holds a safe Conservative seat. While i like our MP, Damien Green, I am very disillusioned by our Borough Councillor, Neil Bell, who is a weaselly slimey character. But there is only a LibDem standing against him, and she hasn't even bothered to put leaflets through doors (although his only appeared yesterday!) so he'll remain our borough Councillor and continue to make me squirm every  time I see him. I reckon his position should also be up for vote against other conservatives at regular intervals to give us the opportunity to say bye bye to him and get someone better.

But I agree with Mark's comments above - none of the voting systems currently being discussed (FPTP, AV, PR) are fully satisfactory. I'd like to know more about what all the other countries do.

AV is a good thing.

It will mean less of a party attacking another with negative campaigns because it will be less likely that that party will pick up many 2nd place votes.

Also if, say, 90% of people voting vote Fred in 2nd place, whereas another 2 candidates get only 35% each of 1st place votes, isn't Fred entitled to a seat? He's more popular with more people.

Vote AV!

If it's good enough for electing MPs onto parliamentary committees or the Labour National Executive, it must be good enough for us.

Quote:
Mikeonfreeserve says...
Also if, say, 90% of people voting vote Fred in 2nd place, whereas another 2 candidates get only 35% each of 1st place votes, isn't Fred entitled to a seat? He's more popular with more people.
The question is why is Fred more popular with 2nd preferemces?

I believe you should only have one choice and it's the one you most identify with, nothing else.  I don't believe in tactical voting, I believe it should be a straight race to the winner receiving the most votes.  Like Smurfette I live in effectively a safe seat, but it's a Labour one.  Not once have I considered voting for anyone else but my own preference,

Why?  Because although I am aware my vote will not help my choice win, it's not wasted - it's part of the race.  I look at the wider picture and just hope my preferred party wins enough votes to form a Government,  And besides, my view is that if the Labour seat is safe, it's because no one else in the area has made a compelling enough arguement for change.

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Si Wooldridge
Reviewer



http://synth.myreviewer.com

I have gone for AV as my first choice and FPTP as my second choice.

Doc.


"Compassion is another word for gay." Psycho Paul, 2010.

This item was edited on Thursday, 5th May 2011, 07:58