tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post3725853543131295289..comments2024-03-28T17:49:01.125+00:00Comments on Three Thousand Versts of Loneliness: Alternative Vote doesn't have the X FactorOwen Polleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00567787385096905811noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-19140197265456988142011-04-26T08:58:04.912+01:002011-04-26T08:58:04.912+01:00There is a simple alternative to Alternative Vote,...There is a simple alternative to Alternative Vote, namely "Approval Voting".<br /><br />This is a version of FPtP in which you vote for ALL of the candidates of whom you approve. Whoever gets the most votes wins.<br /><br />Mathematically, there is no fairer system when electing a single candidate. It's easy to understand, easy to implement.<br /><br />No wasted votes and no agonising over what order candidates are placed in. You can vote against a candidate by voting for all the others, or vote strongly for a candidate by voting for them alone.<br /><br />Simple and effective - so why wasn't this the option chosen?Wildgoosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14884595915411975940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-65042613311034219732011-04-23T01:16:08.463+01:002011-04-23T01:16:08.463+01:00I thought that Jimmy Spratt was not FPTP's big...I thought that Jimmy Spratt was not FPTP's biggest fan, AFAIK he and his supporters have complained about "vote splitters" and and Mr McDonnell being elected on "a minority of the vote"<br /><br />One person I suspect really loves FPTP is David Davis, who won the first round of the Conservative Party leadership election and under FPTP would now be its leader.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-77240305549169943122011-04-21T12:58:16.018+01:002011-04-21T12:58:16.018+01:00Know it's off topic. But I see "Unionist ...Know it's off topic. But I see "Unionist Lite" is closed and not taking comments.<br /><br />I wanted to say:<br /><br />O'Neill - if you're reading this - thanks for all the blogs, I thought Unionst Lite was a great read.slugnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-83438034961764980872011-04-21T08:42:47.497+01:002011-04-21T08:42:47.497+01:00AV reduces the number of safe constituencies by a ...AV reduces the number of safe constituencies by a surprisingly small degree. 291 safe seats would be unchanged. In any case, instability at the expense of fairness is hardly a cardinal virtue.Owen Polleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00567787385096905811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-7836074136814105792011-04-21T06:53:27.595+01:002011-04-21T06:53:27.595+01:00I have to say, as Slug implies but is too polite t...I have to say, as Slug implies but is too polite to say outright, you couldn't have chosen a worse parallel!<br /><br />You can't just choose the final of X-Factor - the point is that the competition as a whole takes the form almost exactly of an ongoing run-off vote - AV in other words. <br /><br />The fact is that voters already opt for candidates other than their first preference in FPTP elections. Gildernew was not many SDLP voters' first preference, but since they preferred her to Connor they gave her their X-vote; likewise many Greens voting LibDem (though not any longer, I suspect), many Labour or LibDem supporters voting for their second preferences against the Tories around the turn of the millennium and so on. All this "tactical voting" for what is not actually the voters' first preference is a charade which AV would stop. Under AV, we'd know what the people - all the people - really think. <br /><br />It won't happen, I suspect, because the public rarely votes for change in referendums. If the LibDems understood people as well as they understood theory, they would've realised that! Selling out on tuition fees in return for a referendum they were bound to lose, whatever you think of those issues, was extraordinarily bad politics.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-46378166416112495652011-04-20T11:49:55.130+01:002011-04-20T11:49:55.130+01:00Chekov
Yes I did notice that after posting. Fair ...Chekov<br /><br />Yes I did notice that after posting. Fair enough.<br /><br />One of the reasons I am attracted to AV is that there are so many safe constituencies in UK politics. AV reduces their number.<br /><br />Under FPTP a fairly small number of marginal constituencies determine elections. AV would make more constituencies (and more voters) relevant.slugnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-30223131909665397822011-04-20T10:54:12.368+01:002011-04-20T10:54:12.368+01:00slug - you'll notice that I specified the fina...slug - you'll notice that I specified the final of these competitions. Therefore I think I'm in the clear!Owen Polleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00567787385096905811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2623721153002721356.post-34832856220147904962011-04-20T10:52:08.981+01:002011-04-20T10:52:08.981+01:00Technically I am not sure you are quite right abou...Technically I am not sure you are quite right about X Factor.<br /><br />The series goes over a number of weeks and the bottom candidate is eliminated each week. Then people vote again the subsequent week. Its like how the HoC Speaker is elected-"successive ballot".<br /><br />That is much more similar to AV than to first past the post because candidates are eliminated sequentially from the least popular up, and preferences are transferred. <br /><br />The only difference (with AV) is that (i) people don't write down all their preferences at once and (ii) on the final week in X factor there are three standing and the most popular of those three are elected.<br /><br />Overall then I would argue that X factor is very much closer to AV than to FPTP.slugnoreply@blogger.com