Almost any of the alternatives would be fairer than the first past the post system. As a Lib Dem, I’ve voted for – not going to tell you how long – and my vote has never counted in Dumfries and Galloway. Great care is taken to verify and count every vote and every vote should count towards whatever political party you want to support.

Its STV which is used for council elections which is not exactly the same – at the council you elect 3 or 4 councillors using a preferential vote but with AV you elect one person with a preferential vote. AV isn’t proportional, it lets people have a second choice so its the least disliked who wins! All electoral systems have their advantages and disadvantages – the disadvantage of the AMS is that gains in the constituency can lead to losses on the list and vice versa so its more difficult for the electorate to record a desire for change. I don’t agree with the AV referendum being held on the same day as the Scottish Parliament elections

Hello Billy. this is a BIG topic, so here goes.

I believe in reform of the voting system in order accurately to reflect the electorate’s preference. Single Transferable Vote is the one I would go for to give voters the maximum control over whom they choose.

Your councillors were all elected the last time by Single Transferable Vote into multi-member wards of 3 and 4.
Alternative Vote is just STV in single member wards, so doesn’t have the same benefits of reflecting the relative proportions of the vote achieved by candidates, as only one person can win a seat. It is better than First Past the Post tho, as at least AV ensures that the candidate wins who enjoys a majority of support from the electorate. This is not always the case now with FPTP as you know.

The Additional Member system is camel! A bit of First Past the Post (with all its faults) plus a top up from a list of candidates (ranked, remember by parties who can control who gets what position on the list).

I am independent minded enough to recognise that the Single Transferable Vote for parliamentary elections will probably (though not definitely) wipe out non-party candidates. But that’s worth it to get representatives that accurately reflect what people have voted for. And STV loosens the grip that political parties have over their candidates because they can’t rank them – the electorate does that!

I do hope that the big parties don’t prevent us from getting a fairer voting system.

We actually use the Single Transferable Vote system in council elections, so that we end up getting three or four councillors for each ward. It gives a fair political balance but I understand the criticism about the size of the wards, having more than one councillor, and losing personal contact. I agree with you in that I like the Scottish parliament’s AMS system. You get one person as MSP for each ward, but the ‘list’ members added on means that you get a fairer balance of the political parties people have voted for. I don’t know why they aren’t going for the AMS system for UK general elections. I find it strange that the Liberal Democrat Party, who ‘persuaded’ Labour to adopt the AMS system as the price of their support in the Scottish parliament, did not do the same and persuade their coalition partners at Westminster, the Conservatives, to do the same for the UK elections.