This is on the most memorable parts of Ruperts Reads comments on William Hague on AV.
William Hague says; AV is unfair. With First Past the Post, everybody gets one vote. But under AV, supporters of extreme parties like the BNP would get their vote counted many times, while other people's vote would only be counted once.
(It is also worth noting, seeing as Hague gratuitously mentions the BNP here to try to smear the Yes2AV campaign, that the BNP are campaigning FOR FPTP and AGAINST AV: h . This isn't surprising: because the BNP will suffer badly under AV, which is the worst of all electoral systems for extreme Parties hated by the majority of voters, as explained here.
1 year ago
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And as an example of that, look at Jean Marie le Pen, who came second in the first round of the French presidential elections, and was roundly defeated in the second round. You are absolutely right. People will either vote for them or put them bottom of the list, unless of course they are competing with the English Democrats, in which case they might get voted second or second last.
I think the main changes will be that some current labour supporters will put Green or one of the socialist parties first, and Labour second. Some current tory will put UKIP first and Tory second. People who support a single issue party will vote that party first, and their preferred mainstream party second rather than previously "wasting" a vote on the small party, and people who currently vote tactically for one of the big three to keep another one of the big three out will put their desired vote first and their tactical vote second.
In Reading for example, there was a lot of tacital voting against Labour. That meant that for example Rob White got more votes in Park Ward as the strongest anti-Basher candidate than he did in the whole of Reading East where Rob Wilson was the strongest anti-Dodds candidate.
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