Voters Support Election ReformsBy Robbie Dinwoodie
Published June 22nd 2004 in The Herald
AHEAD of tomorrow's ballot in the Scottish Parliament on voting reform for council elections, a pro-reform group published evidence yesterday suggesting that ordinary electors were in favour of change to a system of single transferable vote.
The all-party campaign organisation Fairshare asked voters about the importance of making councils more representative.
Around 72% of respondents agreed – 44% of them strongly – compared with 9% who disagreed with the idea, the organisation claimed.
The survey also asked whether MSPs should vote for the change even if local councillors were against the proposed reform.
The results of the opinion poll showed that 57% agreed, compared with 18% who disagreed.
Fairshare – the cross-party campaign in favour of the single transferable vote system which was recommended in the Kerley report – commissioned the survey from System Three, the pollster, earlier this month.
The final, stage 3 debate on the Local Governance (Scotland) Bill is scheduled to take place tomorrow.
Andrew Burns, a councillor and chairman of Fairshare, said: "The results of this most recent opinion poll have confirmed the findings of every opinion poll on this topic during the past four years.
"The Scottish people want their local councils made more representative of the communities they are elected to serve.
"We know some councillors are opposed to this reform, but the electors have given a clear message for their MSPs," Mr Burns said.
"It is the wishes of the voters that should be heeded when the MSPs cast their votes, not the noise made by some councillors who fear for their seats," he added.
The all-party campaign organisation Fairshare asked voters about the importance of making councils more representative.
Around 72% of respondents agreed – 44% of them strongly – compared with 9% who disagreed with the idea, the organisation claimed.
The survey also asked whether MSPs should vote for the change even if local councillors were against the proposed reform.
The results of the opinion poll showed that 57% agreed, compared with 18% who disagreed.
Fairshare – the cross-party campaign in favour of the single transferable vote system which was recommended in the Kerley report – commissioned the survey from System Three, the pollster, earlier this month.
The final, stage 3 debate on the Local Governance (Scotland) Bill is scheduled to take place tomorrow.
Andrew Burns, a councillor and chairman of Fairshare, said: "The results of this most recent opinion poll have confirmed the findings of every opinion poll on this topic during the past four years.
"The Scottish people want their local councils made more representative of the communities they are elected to serve.
"We know some councillors are opposed to this reform, but the electors have given a clear message for their MSPs," Mr Burns said.
"It is the wishes of the voters that should be heeded when the MSPs cast their votes, not the noise made by some councillors who fear for their seats," he added.
Election Day '09 was a roller-coaster for election reformers. Instant runoff voting had a great night in Minnesota, where St. Paul voters chose to implement IRV for its city elections, and Minneapolis voters used IRV for the first time—with local media touting it as a big success. As the Star-Tribune noted in endorsing IRV for St. Paul, Tuesday’s elections give the Twin Cities a chance to show the whole state of Minnesota the benefits of adopting IRV. There were disappointments in Lowell and Pierce County too, but high-profile multi-candidate races in New Jersey and New York keep policymakers focused on ways to reform elections; the Baltimore Sun and Miami Herald were among many newspapers publishing commentary from FairVote board member and former presidential candidate John Anderson on how IRV can mitigate the problems of plurality elections.