Referendum on AV

Alongside the local elections there will be a referendum on whether to "adopt the 'alternative vote' system instead of the current 'first past the post' system for electing Members of Parliament to the House of Commons".

In simple terms this will be an opportunity to vote on whether we should change the voting system that we use to elect our MPs in general elections. Currently, when we elect our MPs we use a system called ‘first past the post’ and we are being given the choice to change to using a system called the ‘alternative vote’ system.

What is the first past the post system?

The first past the post system is the system that we currently use in general elections. Voters place an ‘x’ next to the candidate who they would like to win the election and be their representative. The candidate who receives the most votes wins. For a candidate to win, they do not need to win a majority of all votes cast; they simply need more votes than any other candidate.

What is the alternative vote system?

The alternative vote system is the system we use in our Students’ Union Officer elections. Instead of putting an ‘x’ next to the one candidate you want to win, you use numbers to put the candidates in order of preference. If a candidate has 50% of the voter’s first preference votes (that is 50% of people voting gave that candidate a number 1) then they are elected. If no candidate has 50% of all of the first preferences, then the candidate with the fewest first preferences is knocked-out of the election and all of the voters who gave that candidate their first preference have their second preference counted instead – these voters first choice is now eliminated so their votes are transferred to their second preference candidate. If after this has happened there still isn’t a candidate with 50% of the vote, then of the candidates who are left the one who now has the fewest votes is eliminated and their votes are transferred to the voter’s next preference. This process is repeated until one candidate has over 50% of the vote. The candidate who gets over 50% of the vote is elected. The principal behind the alternative vote system is that the candidate who wins the election should be supported by the majority of people who voted.

Not sure whether you want to keep first past the post or move to the alternative vote?

YES to AV

• All MPs would have the support of a majority of their constituents as they would need 50% of the vote to be elected.
• There is a clear link between the MP and voters in that constituency. There will be no need to redraw boundaries.
• It more accurately reflects public opinion of extremist parties, who are unlikely to gain many second-preference votes.
• Coalition governments are no more likely to arise under AV than under First-Past-the-Post.
• It eliminated the need for tactical voting. Electors can vote for their first-choice candidate without fear of wasting their vote.
• A change to AV could be a step towards the adoption of Single Transferable Vote (STV). Many feel a No vote will make steps to a more proportional system unlikely.
• It encourages candidates to chase second, and third, preferences. It lessons the need for negative campaigning (one doesn’t want to slag off a candidate whose second preferences one wants) and rewards broad-church policies.

No to AV

• It can be less proportional than First-Past-the-Post. Some commentators believe that if AV was used in 1997, Labour would have increased their majority while the Liberal Democrats may have seen their seats halved.
• It does very little to improve the voice of traditionally under-represented groups in parliament, strengthening the dominance of the ‘central’ viewpoint.
• There is no transfer of power from party authority to the voters.
• It is prone to a certain amount of ‘Donkey voting’, where voters rank candidates randomly, not knowing enough about all of them to make an informed decision.
• Under certain circumstances, a shrewd voter can get a better result by lying. If example, it is know that the contest will be fought between two strong candidates, supporters of one might rank third parties above the other even if the other is technically their second choice.
• In a broadly three-way race, where there are two strong parties who actively dislike each other and a third ‘compromise’ candidate sitting in between, the compromise candidate is likely to be defeated in the first round, despite the fact they could well be the most universally acceptable option.
• Supporters of minority parties in effect get their vote counted multiple times – meaning that not everyone’s vote is worth the same.

For more information about why some people think we should keep first past the post see: http://www.no2av.org/why-vote-no/

And for more information about why some people think we should change to the alternative vote see: http://www.yestofairervotes.org/pages/learn-more/

To be able to vote in the local elections you must ensure that you are registered by the 14th April.