Electoral Reform Society: Big public endorsement for PR

Wednesday, 24 February 2010 12:00 AM

The Electoral Reform Society has welcomed news that Proportional Representation has topped the Power2010 poll of reforms necessary to fix our broken democracy.

The poll racked up over 100,000 voters from supporters across the country.

The Society's Chief Exec Dr Ken Ritchie said:

"Power2010's voters sent a clear signal about what they view as the single most important reform: proportional representation, the vote leader from day one.

"It wasn't pundits, think tankers or a cabal of MPs who decided this - but ordinary people who recognised that PR is the best medicine for a sick democracy. Opponents on both sides of the House of Commons should sit up and take note.

"Whatever position people take on the other pledges that were runners up in the Power2010 ballot, we must not allow candidates who ignore the groundswell for fair elections off the hook. A pick and mix approach to these pledges may let many of our MPs off the hook.

"Real reform of parliament is divisive. When parliamentarians had their chance to support a referendum on PR, not a single Conservative, and only three Labour MPs supported the amendment on the Single Transferable Vote. Our friends at Power do not want their pledge to end up a get out a jail free card for politicians too scared to make the changes our politics so desperately needs.

"Voters have been given a fantastic range of reforms to choose from. It is unwise now to let candidates duck the issue that came top of the poll.

According to Power: "The next phase of the campaign will see voters asked to commit their support to a majority of the proposals - at least three - and then challenge every candidate at the next general election to support them too."

Power2010's final pledges are, in rank order:

1. Introduce a proportional voting system.

2. Scrap ID cards and roll back the database state.

3. Replace the House of Lords with an elected chamber.

4. Allow only English MPs to vote on English laws.

5. Draw up a written constitution.

Contact:

For more information contact the Ashley Dé 07968791684 or Dr Ken Ritchie on 07984945498

About us:

The Electoral Reform Society is campaigning to change the way we choose our politicians. We believe that a fair voting system will improve our democracy, allow politicians to better represent you the voter and help them to tackle the serious issues facing our society. Above all we believe that fairness, accountability and a real choice for voters should not be compromised.

The Mission of the Electoral Reform Society is to secure at all levels of representation an electoral system which will:

Ensure all votes have equal value
Give effective representation to all significant points of view within the electorate
Allow electors to vote for their preferred candidates without fear of wasting their votes
Ensure the accountability of individual representatives to their electorates
And that's why the Society advocates the use of the Single Transferable Vote (STV) http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/article.php?id=48 in public elections.

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