AV... No thanks I'm HDMI

Recently there has been a great deal of emphasis placed upon the Alternative Voting System, and its possible role in the future of British politics. When the system was brought to light by Nick Clegg during the previous election campaign I was intrigued and wanted to investigate further. At the time I was of the opinion that the AV system was fairer and a much more representable way of voting (although I was guilty of letting a few Lib Dem policies rest in my subconscious just as long as the Tories were kept from power). Now I'm not sure what to think as there are advantages and disadvantages on both sides of the argument.

Here is a simple explanation of the system from the BBC News Website

HOW IT WORKS: Voters rank the candidates in order of preference (i.e., 1,2,3,4 instead of 'x'). If no candidate gets more than half the votes cast, the one who has fewest first preference votes has his or her votes reallocated, according to voters' second preferences. This continues until one candidate has more than half.

PROS: Retains the constituency link. Majority support at the local level, not just nationally.

CONS: Constituencies may be decided by the second preferences of the voters who supported the least popular candidate. Why should it be their second preferences which swing the constituency?

Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/slideshow/proportional_representation/slide4.stm


Too be honest I believe that the AV system is one of the only strong policies the Lib Dems have left and even if implemented, it would be more to do with just changing the voting system - scoring a political point - than actually benefiting constituents. I'm also afraid that people may rank far right groups such as the BNP as a second or third preference in passing, not understanding the full consequences of their actions at the time.

I don't believe that the First-Past-the-Post system is particularly fair and I hope that there is a change to the political stage at some point in the near future. But is this it? I guess only time will tell.