Today I urge everyone who believes in our democracy to vote ‘no’ to the
unfair and expensive Alternative Vote (AV) system.
The recent polls have been encouraging but you must remember that there is no turnout threshold today – any complacency and the UK could sleepwalk into a heavily flawed voting system that we
would struggle to get rid of.
Instead of voting being clear, simple and effective like our current system, the Alternative Vote’s complex counting process breaks the principle of ‘One Person, One Vote’ which
is the foundation of our democracy.
People who vote for the fringe parties, like the BNP, can have their votes counted several times under AV, while those voting for mainstream parties have their vote counted just once. I regard that as profoundly unfair.
The Alternative Vote system is also more complicated, which could result in several millions being spent on educating the voters and counting the votes.
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