Tag: Governance of Britain
Record public consultation response
malcolmclark Sat Sep 27, 2008 at 12:02:35 AM GMT 
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On the day the Government's public consultation on weekend voting closed, it has been revealed that this has been the number one Governance of Britain consultation the Ministry of Justice has received correspondence on.
The vast majority of people responding have pinpointed the current system for electing MPs as a key barrier to voting. Many have been saying it doesn't matter which day of the week an election is held on, if your vote doesn't stand much of a chance of affecting the result there may be little incentive to actually vote at all.
The Ministry of Justice should not be surprised at the level of interest sparked in this debate or the messages coming from members of the public. In their own Governance of Britain local engagement events, the MoJ reports hearing exactly the same points.
So let's not take the fatalistic attitude I heard so much at Conference of "you're right about electoral reform, but it's too late. We can't do anything now. End of story." There are plenty of people who still want to see progress on this issue - both inside the party and wider. There may no longer be the time to deliver anything before the next election, but the least we can do is keep on thinking and discussing and looking at what the possibilities for progress are.
That way we stand a minor chance of avoiding what Robin Cook warned us of: finding ourselves back in a long period of opposition to a Conservative government elected on a minority share of the vote; and wishing we had changed the voting system when we had the opportunity.
That way we stand a minor chance of avoiding what Robin Cook warned us of: finding ourselves back in a long period of opposition to a Conservative government elected on a minority share of the vote; and wishing we had changed the voting system when we had the opportunity.
Weekend, Deadend,
malcolmclark Sat Sep 13, 2008 at 08:37:44 PM GMT
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The Ministry of Justice is consulting on whether to move to weekend voting, as a way of increasing turnout. They want to know what are the barriers to voting. To me, it doesn't matter which day of the week an election is held on, as if your vote doesn't stand much of a chance of counting there may be little incentive to actually vote at all. Along with all the other reasons - and there are many factors involved - the electoral system is undoubtably a significant one.
Handily, there is a open-ended final question on the consultation where this type of argument can be made. There's a website www.makevotescount.org.uk set up especially to respond to this specific part of the consultation.
Handily, there is a open-ended final question on the consultation where this type of argument can be made. There's a website www.makevotescount.org.uk set up especially to respond to this specific part of the consultation.
As this is an official consultation, all the responses get logged, summarised and reported back - within Government and publicly. To give you some context, the MoJ received less a thousand separate responses in total to all their past Governance of Britain consultations (war powers, attorney general, flag flying, managing protest around Parliament). So it is defnitely worth submitting something.
The American reality is currently only a dream
malcolmclark Thu Jul 17, 2008 at 11:21:46 AM GMT
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A copy of 'America goes to the polls - a report (pdf) on voter turnout in the 2008 Presidential Primary' has just landed in my inbox. As might be expected, there are some real wow stats:
1) More than one in four of all eligible voters participated in a primary or caucus. This is a rate not seen since 1972, when the voting age was lowered to 18.
2) Voter participation in Democratic primaries was up 112% and caucuses by 223% compared to 2004 - ie.the turnout in Democratic primaries doubled and tripled in the caucuses.
3) Youth participation rose at a faster rate than any other age group. Turnout by voters ages 18-29 went up for the third consecutive national election year (2004 and 2006).
But alongside these startling facts, there is a salient message: besides competitive elections (which are very important) or the date of the primary (weekday / weekend), a number of factors influenced voter turnout. Election Day Registration and Early Voting most likely contributed to higher turnout in many states.
AV: No referendum necessary
oratorhunt Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 11:39:37 AM GMT
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First posted on Progress blog:
