Alternative Vote - Revision history

WikiSysop at 14:41, 12 January 2017

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	==Alternative Vote in the United Kingdom==		==Alternative Vote in the United Kingdom==
	~~In 1998, during the Blair government, suggestions~~ to change the present voting system came up ~~firstly~~. While the Liberal Democrats were in favour of a change of the electoral system, the Conservatives wanted to hold on to the old system. These attitudes ~~were kept until today~~. In 1998, the suggestions related to a combination of the first-past-the-post system and proportional representation. However, it lasted more than 10 years until a referendum was put through.		Suggestions to change the present voting system first came up in 1998, during the years of the [[Tony Blair\|Blair]] government,. While the Liberal Democrats were in favour of a change of the electoral system, the [[Tories\|Conservatives]] wanted to hold on to the old system. These attitudes persist to this day. In 1998, the suggestions related to a combination of the first-past-the-post system and proportional representation. However, it lasted more than 10 years until a referendum was put through.

	Under the coalition government between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, there were new demands by the Lib Dems to change the voting system. Prime Minister David Cameron made clear that he was not for a change of the electoral system and that it would not be an advance. After debates, the referendum was set for 5th May 2011.		Under the coalition government between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, there were new demands by the Lib Dems to change the voting system. [[Prime Minister]] [[David Cameron]] made clear that he was not for a change of the electoral system and that it would not be an advance. After debates, the referendum was set for 5th May 2011.

	==Campaign for and against Alternative Vote==		==Campaign for and against Alternative Vote==

Pankratz at 07:54, 7 May 2015

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	Electoral system. On Thursday, ~~5th~~ May 2011 there was a referendum in the United Kingdom if Alternative Vote should be used instead of the present system, first-past-the-post.		Electoral system. On Thursday, 5 May 2011 there was a referendum in the United Kingdom if Alternative Vote should be used instead of the present system, first-past-the-post.

	==How Alternative Vote Works==		==How Alternative Vote Works==

Pankratz at 15:14, 29 April 2013

2013-04-29T15:14:31Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:14, 29 April 2013
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	~~Alternative Vote is an electoral~~ system. On Thursday, 5th May 2011 there was a referendum in the United Kingdom if Alternative Vote should be used instead of the present system, first-past-the-post.		Electoral system. On Thursday, 5th May 2011 there was a referendum in the United Kingdom if Alternative Vote should be used instead of the present system, first-past-the-post.

	==How Alternative Vote Works==		==How Alternative Vote Works==

Lsm at 10:55, 5 July 2011

2011-07-05T10:55:35Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:55, 5 July 2011
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	Alternative Vote is an electoral system.		Alternative Vote is an electoral system. On Thursday, 5th May 2011 there was a referendum in the United Kingdom if Alternative Vote should be used instead of the present system, first-past-the-post.

			==How Alternative Vote Works==
			The Alternative Vote system was proposed to be used to elect Members of Parliament to the House of Commons. With the present voting system, the first-past-the-post system, you have one vote for the candidate of your choice. The choices of all citizens are then put together and the candidate who gets most votes is the winner of the election. The Alternative Vote system works differently:

			Voters can sort the candidates on the ballot paper by numbers. This means that they can put a 1, 2, 3 and so on next to the candidate’s name on the ballot paper. 1 refers to the candidate which you prefer most, 2 refers to the candidate you like in second place and so on. The voters do not need to give a number to every candidate. Then, all first choices are put together for every single candidate and if the first choices of one candidate make up more than half the first choices for all candidates, then he or she is the winner of the election. If this is not the case, the candidate with the lowest number of first choices is eliminated and his or her first choice ballot papers are used again. Now the second choice on the ballot paper of the eliminated candidate is distributed among the remaining candidates and added to their votes. In case that the votes for one candidate account for more than half the votes for all candidates, this candidate is the winner of the election. If this is not the case, the candidate who received the lowest number of votes is eliminated and the candidate’s ballot papers are used again and sorted by the third choice for the remaining candidates. This procedure goes on until one candidate has more than half of the votes.

			==Alternative Vote in the United Kingdom==
			In 1998, during the Blair government, suggestions to change the present voting system came up firstly. While the Liberal Democrats were in favour of a change of the electoral system, the Conservatives wanted to hold on to the old system. These attitudes were kept until today. In 1998, the suggestions related to a combination of the first-past-the-post system and proportional representation. However, it lasted more than 10 years until a referendum was put through.

			Under the coalition government between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, there were new demands by the Lib Dems to change the voting system. Prime Minister David Cameron made clear that he was not for a change of the electoral system and that it would not be an advance. After debates, the referendum was set for 5th May 2011.

			==Campaign for and against Alternative Vote==
			The issue aroused much attention in the UK and campaigns for and against Alternative Vote were set up. Famous people like Colin Firth, Billy Bragg and John Cleese participated in such campaigns as well.

			The supporters of the Campaign for Fairer Votes, initiated by the Liberal Democrats, claimed that Alternative Vote was fairer than first-past-the-post. From their point of view, the old system would not support democracy due to the fact that two-thirds of the MPs do not receive more than 50 per cent of the voters backing. They also said that the new voting system would assure that MPs would need to put more effort into their work to keep their voters’ support. The fact that the system is used in other countries, for example in Australia, was also stated by the supporters of Alternative Vote because it should show that it would be practicable.

			The opponents of Alternative Vote, the members of the No to AV campaign, wanted to keep first-past-the-post due to the fact that it would ensure a strong government and that history would confirm its success. In addition, they said that the system should be kept since it would be simple and everybody would understand it whereas Alternative Vote would be difficult and not fair. The opponents made clear that the vote count would be very expensive as new electronic vote counting machines would be needed. People would need to be educated about the new system as well. It could also happen that extremist parties win seats.

			==The Result of the Referendum==
			The outcome of the referendum was clear. 32.1 % voted for Alternative Vote and 67.9 % voted against it. Thus, first-past-the-post was kept as the electoral system. More people than estimated participated in the referendum (19.1 million people which are 41 % of the population).

			The fact that Prime Minister Cameron campaigned for first-past-the-post is seen by supporters of Alternative Vote as one of the main reasons why most people voted against Alternative Vote.

			==Sources==
			http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/5_may/referendum_2011.aspx, 4 July 2011

			http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/203930.stm, 4 July 2011

			http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7144915.ece, 4 July 2011

			http://www.libdems.org.uk/how_av_works.aspx, 4 July 2011

			http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12892836, 4 July 2011

			http://www.no2av.org/why-vote-no/, 4 July 2011

			http://www.no2av.org/why-vote-no/current-system, 4 July 2011

			http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/feb/15/firth-bonham-carter-av-yes, 4 July 2011

			http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13297573, 4 July 2011

			http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13318667, 4 July 2011

Lsm: Created page with 'Alternative Vote is an electoral system.'

2011-07-04T16:30:41Z

Created page with 'Alternative Vote is an electoral system.'

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Alternative Vote is an electoral system.