The Other Vote on May 5th

As well as the local council vote, there is the Alternative Vote (AV) referendum happening on 5th May - voting for this will be at the same time at the same polling stations as for the Council (or via post in the same way if you are a postal voter).

I shall be voting Yes to AV and I would urge others to do the same. I'll say at the outside that I don't think AV is the best system for electing members of Parliament, but with the choice we've been given it's definitely an improvement and a step in the right direction to more democracy.

What we should have been offered was a proper choice of systems (as was offered in the referendum in New Zealand around 20 years ago when they moved away from first-past-the-post). Green MP Caroline Lucas tried to obtain a similar choice for this referendum, but was given little support in that by the other Parties (including the Liberal Democrats). But there we are.

Here's an example of the difference between the 2 systems:
Alternative Vote:
"I'd like an ice cream please - I'd like Chocolate, but if you haven't got that I'll have strawberry and if you haven't got that I'll have vanilla.
Shopkeeper: "We're out of chocolate I'm afraid, but we have strawberry - here you are".

First Past the Post:
"I'd like a Chocolate ice cream please.
Shopkeeper "We're out of chocolate I'm afraid. Goodbye"

Note that even with AV I never receive more than one ice cream. The idea that some people get more than one vote is just one of the many pieces of mis-information peddled by the 'No' campaign.

Other pieces of mis-information include:
"It will let in the BNP" - In fact as the winning candidate has to reach 50% support either from first preference or from transferred second, third etc preference it is less likely that an extreme candidate would get elected (The BNP are campaigning for a No Vote).

"It's a strange and complicated system" - in fact it's the system used to elect the Leaders of the Conservative and Labour Parties - I don't hear Cameron complaining about it there.

"It means we spend £130 million on voting machines" - a total lie - there is no intention of introducing any voting machines; countries which currently use AV don't use them.

"It will mean more coalitions and coalitions are a bad thing". Analysis of elections over recent decades has shown that coalitions would have been no more frequent under AV. And if the 2010 election had been fought under AV it would probably have enabled a Labour / Lib Dem coalition.

The No campaign has the backing of some powerful corporate vested interests (bank-rolling it to the tune of millions of pounds), the Tory Party and the Murdoch press; people should ask themselves what vested interests these groups are seeking to protect. Those who want to give Nick Clegg a kicking by voting No (he's very prominent on the No to AV leaflet), will be playing into the hands of the real villains.