Andrew Dickens: Split voting is undemocratic
from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Hosted by Newstalk ZB
The split voting thing. In the weekend papers were full of full-page ads paid for by RCR. This appears to be the vessel for Don Brash and Nick Mowbray to promote their tactical voting tactic to create an overhang that benefits the centre right. I don't like it the same way Don Brash doesn't like John Key telling people how to vote and of course their platform benefits in that they have money to buy the ads. People have accused me of not liking it because it benefits the centre right. No, I don't like how Te Pati Māori do it either. If the left were to do it, I wouldn't like it. If Jim Anderton, the multi-millionaire socialist, had tried it I would have called it out too. And now national has said the sweetheart deal with ACT in Epsom is over. Again, people telling people how to vote. They're all as bad as each other. The problem is 2 votes. So, I looked at what might happen if we had just one vote that counted for both the electorate MP and towards a national total that could create a proportional parliament. And yes, it could. It could still cause an overhang if parties win more electorates than their national voting share entitles them to. But it would certainly stop all this jiggery pokery and attempts to game the system which just seems undemocratic to me.
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