STV PROS AND CONS

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STV PROS AND CONS

Advantages

  • STV gives voters more choice than any other system. This in turn puts most power in the hands of the voters, rather than the party heads, who under other systems can more easily determine who is elected. Under STV MPs' responsibilities lie more with the electorate than those above them in their party.
  • Fewer votes are 'wasted' (i.e. cast for losing candidates or unnecessarily cast for the winner) under STV. This means that most voters can identify a representative that they personally helped to elect. Such a link in turn increases a representative's accountability.
  • STV offers voters a choice of representatives to approach with their concerns post-election, rather than just the one, who may not be at all sympathetic to a voter's views, or may even be the cause of the concern.
  • Parliament is more likely to be both reflective of a nation's views and more responsive to them.
  • There are no safe seats under STV, meaning candidates cannot be complacent and parties must campaign everywhere, and not just in marginal seats.
  • No need for tactical voting

Disadvantages

  • The process of counting the results takes longer under STV, meaning that results cannot usually be declared on the same night as the vote took place. This can be combated with electronic ballot paper scanners.
  • A voting system that allows voters to rank candidates is prone to so-called 'Donkey voting', where voters vote for candidates in the order they appear on the ballot.
  • Voters only tend to come into contact with candidates at election time, whereas people in the party know them much better. It could be argued, therefore, that a system that allows a political party to parachute its preferred candidates into safe seats is better than one that leaves the choice more in the hands of the votersf

Evaluation

LIABLE OPTION W/MANY BENEFITS OVER CURRENT SYSTEM BUT COULD INCREASE THE AMOUNT OF DONKEY VOTING + DELAY THE PROCESS OF FORMING GOVERNMENT

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