The local returning officer has written to say “Your vote matters. Make sure you’re in.”

What does that actually mean? Does it mean that every vote will influence the result? Probably not. It all depends on the voting system being used.

If you are voting in a referendum – YES

This is because all the votes are counted and therefore it will influence the outcome.

If you are electing the UK Government – NO.

This is because with the First Past the Post system, only the votes of the person with the most votes wins the constituency seat. Votes for the other candidates have no influence in who is elected, and if the winning candidates gets less than 50% of the votes, more people have voted against them than for them. In 2015, half of the MPs elected did not get 50% of the votes!

Is there are fairer system? YES – PPPR – Party Percentage Proportional Representation.

All our MPs, with the odd exception, belong to a political party. So, if a party gets 50% of the votes, it should get 50% of the seats, and pro-rata. Can you trust anybody who objects to this?

PPPR requires multi-seat constituencies – EPCs – Electing Proportional Constituencies – each with 4 seats. Then the voters could have four same party candidates (2 males, 2 female?) giving the 250,000+ voters a wider choice, with one vote on one voting paper. The A4 size voting paper, and the use of electronic counting machines, would bring many benefits, and then…

the voters will get…what the voters voted for!

In order to award seats to the proper Party and Person, PPPR tables are required to list:

1. The number of votes each candidate received in each constituency and the total % figure.
2. The number of votes gained by each party and the % figure.
3. Name of constituencies awarded to the parties and persons with the highest % of votes.

PPPR = the most Popular Parties and Persons Returned.