tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514997479047915257.post1529576370369884724..comments2023-07-02T02:01:46.240-07:00Comments on Andrew RT Davies AM: The Case Against AVRT Davies AMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03070553488669046057noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514997479047915257.post-65199536100381685002011-02-22T06:37:28.615-08:002011-02-22T06:37:28.615-08:00"Yes you do get a second bite but why should ..."Yes you do get a second bite but why should you lose your chance to have a say in the election just because you choose your first preference unwisely"...<br /><br />Because that's how life works. This is a very strange argument to make. One person, one vote... It's a basic principle that has served our democracy pretty well i feel.<br /><br />Naturally i accept that this is a debate and as such i don't expect you to agree with my viewpoint.<br /><br />The central point that i am trying to make in the post is that this is not the system that proponents of electoral reform have been campaigning for... at all.<br /><br />It doesn't even address the fundamental criticisms (which i call strenghts)of FPTP.<br /><br />So, to respond to your other point...<br /><br />Why spend £90,000,000 educating the electorate ahead of a referendum, for a system noone really wants? That seems pretty expensive to me.<br /><br />Counting the vote may well be possible manually, but given the re-allocation of preferences after each elimination the length of time required to count and verify results is going to be hugely increased. That will result in vastly increased costs for local authorities- especially in cases such as Cardiff North at the last general election where multiple recounts were necessary!RT Davies AMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03070553488669046057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514997479047915257.post-85371040062402492202011-02-21T04:13:04.471-08:002011-02-21T04:13:04.471-08:00I suggest you study the history of elections in Pa...I suggest you study the history of elections in Papua New Guinea . They started off using AV changed to FPTP for some of the reasons you advocate but went back to AV after a GE where half the MP's were elected with less than 20% of the vote and some with as little as 5% of the vote .Mark Seniorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06482009878893889107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4514997479047915257.post-12216121409593550142011-02-19T11:23:41.961-08:002011-02-19T11:23:41.961-08:00I don't think you understand what tactical vot...I don't think you understand what tactical voting means. <br /><br />Tactical voting is where you expess a dishonest preference to prevent someone you dislike getting elected. If you were a supporter of the very nice party you might be inclined to vote for the nice party tactically to prevent the nasty party getting elected.<br /><br />Of course in AV you do not have to be an amatuer psephologist you can vote for your genuine prefernces without fear of wasting your vote.<br /><br />Yes you do get a second bite but why should you lose your chance to have a say in the election just because you choose your first preference unwisely.<br /><br />Is it so complicated and expensive?<br /><br />It is complicated if you can't count, if you cannot list candidates in order of preference then it probably is a bit too complicated for you. Most people are nnot flustered by this idea, and I think that as we are only asked to vote every 5 years making that choice a little more sophisticated than the illiterate X voting is not much of an ask!<br /><br />It is not more expensive you can actually use the same ballot papers we use now and count by hand (like they do in Ireland and Australia,Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com