[Marxism] Re: British General Election Results ... and Proportional Voting

[Brian Shannon <Brian_Shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

The distortions in the British election results are similar to the
results in the American elections. There is no Proportional Voting,
which means that  every voter is faced with the argument that one's
vote is wasted if you vote for someone who "doesn't have a chance."
This argument was pushed by Labour.

Nor is there Instant Runoff Voting or second-round voting, which would
probably not change the final result regarding parliamentary
representation, but would allow first votes for your preferred
candidate. Labor would probably have been strengthened, because some of
those who voted for the Liberal Democrats might have voted first for a
Green or a Socialist and made Labor their second choice. That would be
a good thing in general; however, it would still disguise who was
voting because of their opposition to the Iraq War.

With Proportional Voting, the list is enlarged. Those who voted Green
or Socialists (or Conservative, etc., for that matter) could actually
elect a parliamentary person who could represent their views. Thus, if
there were 20 candidates grouped together and 5% voted for a Green or
Socialist, the voters for that person would actually have a voice in
parliament.

from Brian Shannon


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