The British by-elections of July 20 provided another clear example of the need for approval voting.
In two constituencies, called Selby and Ainsty (in North Yorkshire) and Somerton and Frome (in Somerset), supporters of the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties together outnumbered the Conservatives. So, in both, they voted tactically. In Selby and Ainsty, many Lib Dem supporters voted Labour. In Somerton and Frome, many Labour supporters voted Lib Dem.
It succeeded. It was clever, dishonest, uncertain of success because it required sophisticated guesswork and compliance by thousands of people. And the resulting numbers were an untrue picture of the voters’ wishes. In one constituency, Labour “lost its deposit,” that is, got less than 5 percent of the vote, because so many of its supporters were willing to pretend to be Liberal Democrat.
Under approval voting, those who so wished could have voted for the option they most liked and also for the other that they approved and that had more chance of success. The result would have been the same, except that the totals of votes would have accurately recorded the wishes of the voters and the strength of support – approval – for each party.
There is a campaigning group called Make Votes Matter. It campaigns for proportional representation. It should work also for approval voting. These are the two wonderful reforms that would make electoral systems fair.
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