What will you be voting in the Voting Reform Referendum?

[Hecktix]

So, big day is tomorrow! Local Elections and the Voting Reform referendum, this thread however is just about the referendum.

Those of you who do not know, a referendum is being held on May 5 (tomorrow) on whether we should change the voting system in the UK from the current "First past the post" system which means the party with the most votes wins to the "Alternative Voting" system, a system where second and third preference votes are accounted for to ensure a party can only win with over 50% of the vote.

Why are we having this? Well because the Lib Dems want it and the Lib Dems are in the coalition, part of their coalition agreement with the tories was a voting reform referendum. However note that it is a referendum and I'm pretty sure even if the vote is a 'Yes' it might not go further.

David Cameron and the Conservative Party are part of the "No to AV" campaign, Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems are in full support of the "Yes to AV" campaign however the Labour Party, are split with leader Ed Miliband supporting AV however a lot of Labour party members disagree with this.

UKIP appear to be in favour of AV (from what I can see in their manifesto) and the BNP are strictly against AV in favour of proportional representation. The Green Party support the "Yes" campaign.

What will you vote? Or if you can't, what would you vote?

This is probably the most unbiased video I have seen if you are just looking for an explanation of the systems:

Here is a video (quite funny) posted by the "No to AV" campaign (http://www.no2av.org/):



And here are the details of the "Yes" campaign (http://www.yestofairervotes.org):

http://www.youtube.com/user/fairervo.../0/Jm5IBhrq_PU

[beth]

i am voting labour in the local votes, and voting no to a.v because i don't think it's a reliable system.

[dirrty]

i would be voting for AV, but i lost my postal card so i doubt i will be voting lol.

[Hecktix]

I will be voting no to AV for reasons quite similar to that in the first no2av video I posted, I do not believe "second preference" is good enough to catapult someone into winning an election.

[Conservative,]

If I could vote I'd be voting Conservative (because they have a nearly 60% majority in my constituency - no point voting anyone else really) and NO to AV because
A) It's a waste of public money which could fund hospitals/schools/police etc.
B) Proportional Representation is what I'd rather have. It's the fairest in my view. Some people view AV as a step towards PR, however I disagree - get the whole thing or nothing. Don't settle for a very poor alternative.
C) It's unreliable. 3 countries in the WORLD use it. Australia WANT to get rid of it see here Fiji ARE getting rid of it. So it's not really the best one to use.

[Mathew]

The Right Honourable Alan B'stard in the first video sounds a lot like the Labour Party.

Obviously I can't vote, but it would be a no to AV for me. It's a waste of money and FPTP has been good enough for the past goodness knows how many years. The person who gains the most amount of votes should be the "winner", so I think it's absolutely stupid to start looking at 2nd, 3rd and 4th place votes. It's totally unrepresentative and silly - only introduced because the Lib Dems are such a hide-away party and have pretty much ****** up the next election.

[beth]

to add to my post: i think alot of people are pro-av just because they want change and progress, and progress for progress' sake is not necessarily right. there's a reason the two main parties (labour and conservative) are hugely against it. i mean, i hate to agree with the tories, makes me feel a little sick.

[Conservative,]

to add to my post: i think alot of people are pro-av just because they want change and progress, and progress for progress' sake is not necessarily right. there's a reason the two main parties (labour and conservative) are hugely against it. i mean, i hate to agree with the tories, makes me feel a little sick.

To be fair - Labour are split on it - Red Ed wants AV. Tories are the only main party solidly against it.

[Hecktix]

To be fair - Labour are split on it - Red Ed wants AV. Tories are the only main party solidly against it.

edit: o i didnt see you said main party

[beth]

To be fair - Labour are split on it - Red Ed wants AV. Tories are the only main party solidly against it.

70/30 labour split against.