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Matthew BlommeSmallAP Comparative Government3/18/15Current events Summary on Alternative Voting in the UKOn May 5, 2011 the UK conducted a nation-wide referendum (only the second n UK history) about electing MPs. If passed, the referendum was meant to replace the current system of first-past-the-post (majoritarian) system with an alternative vote (AV). The Alternative Vote is also known as Instant Runoff Voting or Ranked Choice Voting. It works by having the voter rank the candidates in order of their preference. Therefore the voter would place a 1 by their first choice for that office, then a 2 next to the name of their second choice for that office and so on and so forth for however many candidates there are for that office. A candidate wins outright if they gain more than half of the 1 votes. If there is no outright winner, then the candidate with the fewest 1 votes is eliminated and each of the remaining candidates 1 and 2 (and other numbers if there are more candidates) votes are counted until one candidate gets more than half of the votes (Electoral Reform Society).Nineteen million people voted on this referendum, this was only about a 41% turnout but was still more than expected. After the votes were counted, the referendum was defeated with 68% voting No and 38% voting Yes. This was a major loss for the Liberal Democrats and the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg who would have benefitted from this new system. David Cameron, on the other hand, was happy and said the people spoke clearly and the vote settled the question over electoral change (BBC News: UK Politics).Like most choices there are positives and negatives to this Alternative voting. One positive is that all MPs would have the support of a majority of their constituents. Another positive is that it encourages candidates to chase 2, 3, and so forth votes, which in turn reduces negative campaigning. Most importantly, all electors votes count, which is definitely not the case now with first-past-the-post (Electoral Reform Society)Unfortunately this style of voting does come with a few negative points as well. First of all, it is not a form of proportional representation (like it is now). Second, in close three-way races, the compromise candidate could be defeated in the first round even though they may be more broadly accepted (more 2 votes). Last, the ranking choices could lead some disinterested voters to rank candidates in order they appear on the ballot. This means that parties may choose candidates more based off of the first letter of their last name not their political viewpoints (Electoral Reform Society)Right now most of the UK still vote with pencils on ballot papers at polling places in ancient churches, everyone votes on one day, and you must appear on the roll at your specific polling place, in person to vote. It is said that the decreasing voter turnout (35% in 2014) is due to the old-people way of voting. Most people would much rather vote with their smart phones than go digging for their fossilized quill-pen. Another reason to change the way the UK votes now is because the Tory party spent a lot of money campaigning to defeat AV so they could keep their seats in parliament longer without having to campaign themselves again. In other words, The incumbents in parliament are a bunch of constipated rabbits. (The Guardian)Works CitedGhose, Katie. "Alternative Vote." Electoral Reform Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. .Herrmann, Steve, ed. "Vote 2011: UK rejects alternative vote." BBC News: UK Politics. BBC News, 6 May 2011. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. .Toynbee, Polly. "Our dismal EU ballot papers say it all: this electoral system is corrupt." The Guardian. N.p., 23 May 2014. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. .