DPR Voting - simple, practical electoral reform
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X We need to change the UK Voting system X |
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You know it's broken - so help mend our democracy - |
A new voting system is central to UK electoral and political reform.
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DPR Voting is a new system. How well will it work?
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. One MP in each constituency - for local, personal, accountable politics. Simple and quick voting and counting that everyone can understand - for transparency and clarity. Party Proportional voting - for a fairer balance in politics. for everybody to re-engage with politics. . |
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Direct Party and Representative Voting (DPR Voting) is a new voting system specifically intended for the election of the House of Commons in the UK. It is similar to AMS - the Additional Member System used in Scotland, and MMP - the Mixed Member Proportional system used in Germany, but has important advantages .
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1 . Proportional Representation | DPR Voting in practice |
DPR Voting is a form of proportional representation.
In Parliament, the number of votes that the MPs of each party can exercise, not the number of MPs, is proportional to the number of votes each party wins in the election. |
DPR Voting in practice
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A General Election Campaign decided by DPR voting would differ from existing campaigns Parties would have two targets - firstly to win as many votes as possible across the country, and secondly to get as many representatives elected. Marginal Constituencies: There would be no marginal constituencies because party votes are aggregated into a national total which determines the number of votes the party has in the parliament. All votes would have an equal significance. This would mean parties would have little incentive to focus their resources and campaigning effort on just a few constituencies. Safe Seats While a seat might return a majority of Party A votes, it does not follow that the representative of Party A will be elected. Voters support their party by voting in the Party Vote. This support is not affected if they then vote for an alternative candidate to be the local MP. Lazy, ineffective or dishonest candidates would not be able to rely on the popularity of their party for their re-election. Campaigning strategies Campaigning would be both national and local. Local campaigns would be more likely to focus on the merits of the individual candidates and local issues. |
6 . Parliamentary Divisions and Parliamentary Vote Values. | DPR Voting in practice
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In DPR Voting, MPs are elected for each constituency by a simple plurality (The Representative Vote). The candidate that gets the most votes wins. But the number of MPs elected for each party does not determine how many votes each party will have in the parliament. This is determined by the Party vote.
The threshold level of votes had been set at 2.5% (For the purposes of this example) |
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7. MPs and the parliamentary vote value rather than ‘One MP one Vote' | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Parliamentary Vote Value (PVV), which is used in the counting of parliamentary votes on party political issues, is the key to how DPR Voting balances the votes for the various parties with the number of elected MPs in the House of Commons. |
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8. Parliamentary Composition | DPR Voting in practice |
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DPR Voting does not necessarily result in a parliament which is a microcosm of British Society. It does not necessarily result in a Parliament that consists of balanced proportions of age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation etc. |
10. MPs, their parties, and their constituents. | DPR Voting in practice
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DPR Voting makes Parliament more ‘party proportional’ in its voting and thus changes the relationship between the Government and the other parties, but also changes the relationship between parties and their MPs, and between MPs and their constituents. It gives MPs more independence from their parties, but also makes them more accountable to their constituents. MPs' link with the constituency will be closer because the election will be much more about personal qualities and record in public life, and an MP will not be able to rely on the party label to be elected. This will give them a measure of independence since a popular MP will no longer necessarily be voted out when his or her party suffers an electoral setback. Of course the converse is also true. In Parliament, the whips are likely to have less influence, so MPs will have more independence when it comes to voting. A change to DPR voting would not require a change to the Single Member constituency system, or to the constituencies or their boundaries. Electoral campaigns could continue in the same geographical areas. However there would be more freedom for boundaries to follow natural communities or local government areas. |
11. MPs and Accountability | DPR Voting in practice
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DPR Voting has some special features that make elected MPs specially accountable to their constituents. An MP standing as a candidate at the General election can be held accountable because the MP cannot depend on his or her party allegiance for re-election The voter freely chooses the best person for the job. It is a local contest where personal qualities and record in public life of the candidates make the difference. The local nature of the election means that the voter has a better chance of knowing about, or having some first hand experience of the candidates. An MP who is perceived by the constituents to have a poor record as an MP can be voted out without the voters compromising on their own party allegiance. |
12. Small Parties | DPR Voting in practice
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How easy or difficult it is for small parties to be present on the ballot paper and have at least one elected member in the parliament depends on factors which are not inherent to the system and can be determined quite separately. 1) the conditions for qualifying to be on the Ballot Paper. 2) A threshold level for automatic representation. How does a Party qualify to be present on the ballot paper? The Party would have to qualify to get on the ballot paper. The conditions for Party qualification is not inherent to the system and would be a matter for separate debate. The process of qualification could be regional or national and might, for example, require a number of signatures to be obtained across a number of different constituencies. What happens if a Party fails to qualify? If a party failed to qualify, its candidates could still stand as independents. Could a small Party get no representative to exercise a parliamentary vote? Yes, but this is less likely to happen than under FPTP. It could happen where a party has a low level of support spread widely, has no outstanding candidate capable of being elected on personal merit, and does not get enough votes to exceed the threshold level. A small party has a better chance of getting one MP elected because of the nature of the representative vote. Most small parties who win even a small share of the national vote have at least one outstanding individual who might well be elected on their personal qualities, public profile etc. With DPR voting the voter can both support his/her preferred party, and then freely choose the best person to represent the constituency. Secondly in the event that a party had no representative elected it would still be possible for one MP to be elected by automatic representation. Automatic Representation In the event that a party fails to get a single constituency MP elected, but nevertheless achieves a level of support in the Party vote which exceeds a predetermined threshold (for example 1%), there is provision for the automatic election of a single MP (the party leader). If no candidate from a party was elected in the Representative ballot but the party won enough votes to exceed the chosen threshold percentage, the leader of the party would automatically be elected as an MP. In this way the party would be represented in the Parliament. However the MP would not be able to exercise the appropriately ‘heavy' vote. Such an MP would have no constituency link, but this would be an exceptional circumstance. Would DPR Voting mean there were lots of small parties in the Parliament? It depends on How easy the conditions to qualify are, and How high the threshold level is set for automatic representation Would DPR Voting encourage schisms within the larger parties? No. There would be no particular benefit or incentive from the system, and the disincentive that applies to small parties would apply to new breakaway parties. |
13. Independent Candidates | DPR Voting in practice
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Independent Candidates, that is candidates not adopted by one of the parties in the party section of the ballot paper, will be identified on the ballot paper as Independent. An outstanding Independent candidate will have a better chance of being elected under DPR because at present the lack of a party label acts as a handicap. This handicap will no longer be as significant. The campaign will be more concerned with personal qualities and the candidate's record in public life. Independent Candidates elected as MPs will exercise a vote value of one in all parliamentary votes. |
14. By-elections, defections, and other issues | DPR Voting in practice
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What happens in the event of the defection of an MP from party A to Party B? In normal circumstances an MP retains the vote value until the next General Election. An MP who resigns the whip between elections would retain the same value vote or a vote value of one, whichever is the lower, for the remainder of the Parliament. What vote value does an MP elected at a by-election have? An MP elected at a by-election has a vote value of 1 What stops an MP with a 'heavy' vote defecting to another party? Nothing stops an MP from defecting, but an MP who resigned the whip would retain the same value vote or a vote value of one, whichever is the lower, for the remainder of the Parliament. Thus an MP with a 'heavy' vote cannot defect and take this 'heavy' vote to another party. There is no redistribution of votes. Can you vote for a party even if there is no candidate from that party standing in the constituency? Yes. (in the Party vote) This means that each party would receive their total potential vote, unqualified by a shortage of candidates. In the constituency of the Speaker of the House of Commons where, by convention, the major parties don't contest the election, the electorate would still be able to vote for the preferred party even if the Speaker was the only candidate standing. |
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15. Election of the Speaker | DPR Voting in practice |
The convention is that the speaker is returned to Parliament unopposed. If convention is followed, there is no competition, and thus the constituents of the Speaker's constituency do not have the chance to vote for the party of their choice. With DPR Voting this problem would not arise. The election would take place with electors completing the Party Ballot section only (assuming there were no candidates standing to oppose the Speaker). Accordingly their votes would still count as much as every other vote in the election. In this respect DPR Voting is unique amongst voting systems. |
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16. Abuse of the system - attempts to cheat or exploit the system | DPR Voting in practice |
Generally DPR Voting is not influenced by party electoral tactics or tactical voting. But, in an extreme case, there is one potential loophole that should be blocked by legal sanction.
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17. Issues that do not divide along party lines | DPR Voting in practice |
Some issues are not 'party political'. Opinion is not divided along party lines. In such cases would it be right for some MPs to have a heavier vote than others? |
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18. Conflicting interests between constituencies | DPR Voting in practice |
Could there be a problem when a matter came before Parliament where there was a division between two constituencies. Would it be right for the weight value of the constituencies' respective MPs to differ? Either this is a party political matter, in which case the decision of parliament would be determined by the decisons of the individual political parties. If it were not a party political matter, (agreed by all parties) under the rules of DPR Voting each constituency MP would have a vote value of one. |