What’s the worst thing about First Past The Post? | Yes to fairer votes - Yes to AV - Alternative Vote

1. FPTP means politicians take voters for granted

With First Past the Post voters are not created equal. Parties steer well clear of the 'safe seats' the system creates, because they know those elections will be won or lost without them lifting a finger.

Either way it's simply not worth the effort. Instead it's in the few seats where the winner isn't known where politicians do all they can to win. And the result? A handful of lucky voters in these marginal seats decide our elections.

In the 2010 election, most of us were ignored by political parties; the result was effectively decided by just 460,000 people — just 1.6% of the electorate. FPTP lets parties cynically target that handful of marginal voters in a few marginal seats.

via yestofairervotes.org

Posted via email from sunwalking's posterous