THE "ALTERNATIVE VOTE" METHOD EXPLAINED .
BY RONALD Hooper.
(from Canadian Bar Review 1923)
On February 19th, the Dominion House of Commons adopted a resolution
respecting the Alternative Vote, introduced by Mr. W. C. Good (Brant, Ont.),
as follows :-
"That in the opinion of this House the alternative vote method should be adopted
for use in future elections for this House in all single-member constituencies where more than two candidates are running for election." In view of the extreme probability of the Alternative Vote being in use in a large number of constituencies in the next Dominion general election, a number of enquiries are being made as to what this method will accomplish and what changes it involves.
Some explanation on these points is given in this article.
Purpose of the Reform.
The Alternative Vote method of election, as it is known in Great Britain and in Canada (or the Preferential Ballot as it is called in Australia), has been devised to overcome the growing menace of the "split vote" in single-member constituencies where more than two candidates are running, and to make it certain that no candidate can secure election unless and until he has behind him the support of a majority of the voters in his constituency.
Under the present system, where there are more than two candidates for a single seat it is easily possible that the candidate who wins the seat may be chosen by a minority that constitutes a very small proportion of the total votes cast.
A most striking example of this occurred in Great Britain in the last election for
Portsmouth Central in which the votes were as follows:
Privett, F. 3. (Conservative) .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 7,666
Fisher, Sir T. (National Lib.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 7,659
Bramsdon, Sir T. (Liberal) . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . ... .... 7,192
Gourd, A. G. (Labor). . . . . . . . . . .. . .. .. . . ... ... .. . . . . . . . . . . ... .. . . . . .6,126
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,643
Mr. Privett was elected by 26 percent of the total vote.
A large number of similar examples could be cited from Canadian Federal and Provincial elections.
The use of the Alternative Vote in the Portsmouth Central election would have given a much more satisfactory result so far as the electors in that constituency were concerned. The Alternative Vote gives to an elector the privilege, if he desires to exercise it, of indicating on his ballot paper the candidate to whom his vote is to be transferred ifno canddate has a majority and if the candidate of his choice is at the bottom of the poll. The voter indicates his farst choice by placing the figure 66199 opposite his name on the ballot paper;
and he may also indicate, if he so desires, his second,
and any subsequent choice by placing the figures 2, 3, etc. opposite their names.
(This method of marking the ballot is exactly the same as in the Proportional Representation method, so that the term "Alternative Vote" really means the Single Transferable Vote applied to a single-member constituency when more than two candidates are running for election).
The Method Illustrated.
An illustration of the way in which the Alternative Vote might have worked out in the election noted above will be of some interest. The illustration has been designed to bring out various points on which enquiries are being made.
A voter might be supposed to have marked his ballot thus :
Candidate
Privett (Conservative) . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Fisher (National Liberal) . . .. . . .. . . . . 2
Bramsdon (Liberal) . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 3
Gourd (Labor). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
After the first choices have been counted, the result is found to be as follows :
First count
Privett . . . . . 7,666
Fisher . . . . . 7,659
Bramsdon . 7,192
Gourd. . 6,126
Now Privett, though at the head of the poll, is not declared elected
as he has not received a clear majority of the votes polled;
in other words, he has not the support of a majority of the voters.
Instead, Gourd, who is at the bottom of the poll, is eliminated
and all his ballots are examined to see how the second choices are marked. It is found that Fisher is marked as second choice on 3,562 of these ballots,
that Bramsdon is second choice on 2,053 ballots,
that Privett is second choice on 64 ballots,
and that on 447 ballots, no second choices have been indicated (that is to say, these latter voters, having failed to elect Gourd, take no further interest in the election).
These ballots would be transferred accordingly
and the result of the voting would then be as follows:
Transferred
First from Second
count Gourd count
Privett . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . 7,666 64 7,730
Fisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7,659 3,562 11,221
Bramsdon . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7,192 2,053 9,245
No further choices indicated. 447
6,126
As no candidate has a majority of the effective ballots at the end of the second count, it becomes necessary to eliminate Privett, who is now least on the poll, and to transfer his 7,730 ballots to the second choices or, in the case of those ballots that he received from Gourd, the third choices.
The final result might then be as follows:
Transferred
Second from Final
count Privett result
Fisher..... 11,221 5,120 16,141
Bramsdon. 9,245 2,213 11,453
No further choices indicated. 397
7,730
It is now seen that Fisher has received a clear majority of the effective votes, so he is declared to be elected. It is clear from the above arbitrary illustration that the election of Fisher is much more in accordance with the wishes of the voters than the election of Privett would have been. In many cases, however, it is reasonable to assume that the candidate who received the greatest number of first choices would finally be elected through the transfer to him of votes from other candidates.
Some Advantages.
There are certain benefits that will result from the Alternative Vote. Every representative elected to Parliament will have the satisfaction of knowing with certainty that he has the backing of the majority of his constituents.
Local majorities will not, as, in some cases at present, be entirely without representation. The "split-vote" bogie will be laid to rest, and nominations will be freer. Electors will be free to mark their first choices for whichever candate they please, without having first to consider whether their votes will be thrown away by so doing ; and with electors voting exactly as they please, political parties will thus be better able to gauge their real strength.
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