Notice of Motion
Green GROUP
PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION AND VOTER TRIALS
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(1) Recent legislation published by the Welsh Government, paving the way for Votes at 16 and Single Transferable Vote (STV) in local elections and notes further that Wales follows the voting method for elections in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the London Assembly all now use proportional systems; (2) England remains the only country in the UK where local elections are undertaken using the First Past the Post (FPTP) voting system, and, that England is the only country in Europe to use such a system. (3) The damaging Voter ID trials undertaken earlier this year in the local elections, and plans announced in the Queen’s speech to introduce a Photographic ID requirement. Of 44.6M votes in 2017, electoral fraud resulted in 1 conviction or 0.000063% This council therefore, requests that the Policy & Resources Committee, considers calling for a report detailing the implications of Voter ID on residents in the city and that the report explores the impact of the FPTP electoral system on local elections in Brighton and Hove and how this compares to the popular vote. |
Proposed by: Councillor Mac Cafferty Seconded by: Councillor Clare
Supporting Information
LSE studies have found that elections characterised by First Past the Post tend to lead to unrepresentative Parliaments and disproportional representation in Government. This can contribute to wider voter disenfranchisement in politics and
The results of the Voter ID trials from May’s elections
produced a number of worrying results, including more than 700
voters not returning to vote after being turned away.
Electoral Reform
Society Press Release on Welsh Government Legislation
https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/latest-news-and-research/media-centre/press-releases/westminster-looking-ludicrously-outdated-as-wales-pushes-ahead-with-pro-democracy-reforms/
Evaulation of
2019 Voter ID trials
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-voter-id-pilots-2019
Announcement on Voter ID in Queens Speech https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/voter-id-photo-uk-government-conservatives-queens-speech-elections-polling-a9154936.html