Categories
The majority of voters support changing the voting system – politicalbetting.com
The majority of voters support changing the voting system – politicalbetting.com
What forms of electoral reform would Britons support for general elections?Automatic voter registration: 81% supportChanging the voting system to PR: 54%Making election day a bank holiday: 51%Allowing people to vote online 47%Compulsory voting: 41%Changing the voting age… pic.twitter.com/Gf4rOuBkU3
0
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
First, second, and third on the front row tomorrow held by the Brits.
Votes at 16 I am in the majority opposing, but it is a manifesto promise and simple to do, so it will happen, but it is interesting how it became an article of faith in some parties despite lacking clear public support.
Not keen on votes at 16.
18 is the age of majority for a reason.
If England do not win the Euros this year then Starmer needs to consider his position.
With the UK and Ireland hosting Euro 2028 there might be huge feelgood factor across all the nations that could boost Starmer.
Some of the most engaged, passionate, and articulate campaigners on both side were these children.
Inspired choices.
It doesn't need to be 100% consistent, there are some things that would remain appropriate or inappropriate in the arbitrary way we decide matters, but my problem is we still seem to emphasise the childhood of 16 year olds, that they should not be trusted to act as adults in most things. And since that is also how we treat those under 16, it makes it unclear why 16 is the distinction line.
If we do trust them to participate in voting, then they should have more 'adult' rights on top of voting to go with it.
Which is why it is not a case of belittling children for me, it is about what we consider to be children, adults, or something in between. And if we don't think they are children, treat them with the respect that deserves more widely. If we do think they are children (which personally I do), then it is no outrage to not have them vote.
We tried rebalancing constituencies and introducing voter ID.
It made absolutely no difference in the end.
Online.
And you trust it?
https://www.youtube.com/live/dtBGaUfQaSs
Anyway, to summarize: the likely reasons why the polls were off to varying degrees this time around appear to be as follows:
1. Failure to model/anticipate the unusually strong minor party vote at this election. Independents and the Workers Party have taken nearly 800,000 votes between them, and the bulk of that will be Gaza eruptions directed at Labour
2. The data may not have been granular enough to account for very strong Liberal Democrat performances in their target seats, although the extent of tactical switching from LD to Labour elsewhere may also have been over-estimated
3. Reform backers may be disproportionately likely not to bother to turn out, and pollsters have failed to adjust for this because the party is a new thing and they therefore lack historic data
@wooliedyed pointed out that Savanta appeared to have done well in predicting a large minor party turnout, but their other figures are a bit all over the place. The wooden spoon contest for the final pre-election polls this year seems to be between People Polling for GBeebies, and Opinium - a surprise given that they were the most accurate pollster in 2019. I'd say the best effort this year was by Norstat.
I would like d'Hondt with around 8 members per constituency. Provides close to proportionality, essentially sets a minimum threshold for representation, and gives a result overnight. "But the parties choose the list!" I hear people cry. Good - that is a privilege of party membership.
Criminal responsibility is 10, but you don't go into the adult justice system until 17. That would seem like the remaining anomaly once voting is in place.
Anyone who has followed the Post Office scandal will be wary of any compurisation, and most certainly the voting system.
Centrism is at risk from overcrowding.
Very hard for pollsters to correct for, particularly if nonvoters " remember" who they voted for.
If you're going to gerrymander, make a proper job of it.
Only place I can think of it's actually worked is Wales.
[ EDIT: I disagree updating the constitutency boundaries with balanced voter registrations is "gerrymandering" - not the same thing at all. ]
Oh and good afternoon PB
I suspect the answer might be to ignore likelihood to vote, weight on past vote and offer force choice on DKs ignoring anyone who remains DK to give a snapshot. But in general there is just too much polling and too much reactive journalism based off it. Everything in the last 3 years was couched via whether it 'moved the polls' and pollsters and those given early sight ramping has become ludicrous now. Lyons Lowe with the 'waiting for Survation' crap because of 2017 etc. That said, I'm very guilty of poll watching.
Oh the stress.
1. Foregone conclusion
2. Tory abstentions
3. General disillusionment with politics
4. Voter ID
5. Problems with postal voting
6. Forgone conclusion
7. it was July so people were more interested in the Euros and their next holiday
It's like QALYs in medicine. The young have to put up with the result for a lot longer than the old.
Alas, no pics of the ballots, little drawings, etc.
9 Nationalist MPs
8 Unionists (inc. 1 indy)
1 Alliance (non-sectarian).
(The scene in the news story is a few miles north of where I live. Bothell is quite close to Seattle, and to another little town you may have heard of, Redmond.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bothell,_Washington )
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/rangers-fc-fan.html?sortBy=relevant
PS. Have heard of Redmond. Boeing and all.
1. Lord Falconer's Speech
2. Inverness Recount
3. England Euro Campaign
4. SeanT's Latest PB Incarnation
The biggest additional challenge IMO for voting systems beyond anything else you might want to do securely online is the fact everyone votes at once. The main safeguard against system performance issues, at least initially, is to ensure alternative ways of voting are always available, even if the system goes down. I would ramp up slowly across several elections possibly starting with certain local elections, probably using the Government Gateway.
This risk managed implementation of very big systems is part of my day job FWIW. I don't see any obvious show stoppers with a cautious rollout of online voting. Going to paper isn't an option where I work but getting it wrong would have serious consequences. I don't work for Fujitsu.
Thinking about by
Now is a great time for the Conservatives to do their periodic chameleon thing and emerge as a party with the practical politics that inspire and shape the next generation, while Labour have to deal with the messy business of being in government.
ETA: for the avoidance of doubt, I do not see who is going to kick that process off. But I live in hope.
"Due to the use if [sic] satellite technology, the stream may buffer, please be patient the stream will return"
One suspects that the satellite "technology" is of ex-Soviet vintage. On loan from Mr V Putin, Moscow.
But in the short intervals when the images are actually moving, it's gripping stuff. Rivals the England football team for entertainment and sheer flair.
But seriously, that's a good comment. And there'll be more emphasis on the climate crisis.
Hooray, tax spreadsheet done, now off to see if I remembered to put the Cotes de Provence rosé in the fridge.
For the first time since the 1661 election, the Cavalier-Anti Exclusionist-Court-Tory-Conservative party has not got a parliamentary monopoly on its wing of politics in England/Great Britain.
And they do not like it, they do not like it one bit, they do not like it up 'em.
Meanwhile, near one of the fire exits, can I see a body being stretchered out? Probably my fevered imagination, although it's entirely possible that folk will start to die of sheer old age waiting for this declaration.
Truly, all human life may be seen at the Dingwall Counting Centre. There's probably a novel in this somewhere.