8/8/2007 9:27:00 AM Time to ditch 'one man, one vote'? True proportional representation would give us all one vote for every seat
Fred Barritt Sun Columnist
As the election approaches it's worth remembering that Bermuda has actually had very little experience with real democracy.
Before 1963 (less than 45 years ago) the only way you could vote or be a candidate in an election was to own land. But not just any land, you had to own "enough" land and the cut off point just happened to be at a level that eliminated most people (black and white) from qualifying.
And on top of that you got to vote in every Parish where you owned a qualifying parcel of land. This meant that elections lasted several days as the few hundred eligible voters travelled the Island casting ballots as they went.
Historically the Government of Bermuda always had to be dragged kicking and screaming by opposition groups to improve the fairness of the system. It seems they don't like to make changes that they think might hurt their chances at reelection - no matter how much sense they might otherwise make. And the PLP have now shown themselves to be no different as they have insisted on adding pictures of the candidates to the ballots while they continue to ignore the issue of absentee voting.
This is the twenty-first century and I can pay my taxes on line and access my bank accounts from anywhere in the world but I have to be IN Bermuda on Election Day or exactly one week before that on only four weeks notice in order to vote. It's ridiculous!
But aside from the deliberate disenfranchising of registered voters the biggest problem with our current system is that most of the votes don't actually count for anything.
Let's face it, there are many constituencies where the voters would elect a cassava pie if it were running for the right party. And the cassava pie would probably do a better job in most cases, but if you live in one of these areas and support the other guys, your vote is irrelevant to the outcome of the election. Of the seventy-two candidates fielded by the two major parties maybe half can actually meet the minimum intellectual requirements for the position. And when you take integrity into account the number who I would even trust to wash my car gets very small indeed.
I know I always seem to get stuck with a choice between two candidates who would have a hard time keeping a real job: One is an idiot and the other a crook. Which one you feel is which usually depends on Party affiliation, but my point is that one of them HAS to win.
And you know they're going straight to the backbench where they'll say nothing and do what they're told until their time is up and then they return to obscurity with paycheque in hand and a great big Government pension on the way.
Meanwhile, in the marginal district next door, there are two Cabinet capable people going head to head and one has to lose. If only there was a way for us to elect both the good ones and reject both the bad.
Well, I have the solution! Forget "One Man One Vote". There are 36 seats, give everyone 36 votes. And the candidates with the most votes get a seat in Parliament - a truly "National" election. The benefits are profound.
No safe seats
There would be no safe seats so we wouldn't get all the pre-election infighting over who deserves the free pass to Parliament and who has to fight it out. And since they would all have a chance to win there'd be more quality candidates willing to put their names forward.
Because all the votes are combined, any attempts to manipulate the voter registry in marginal districts would be pointless.
One third of the electorate will vote solid PLP no matter how corrupt or ineffective they are.
Likewise, one third will choose the UBP no matter how inept or arrogant they get. So those two groups will cancel each other out leaving the rest of us who are actually prepared to think about it to select the Parliament that will best serve Bermuda.
We would choose the Government AND their Opposition.
Independent candidates would have a real change of winning a seat so there would be more of them on the ballot.
More high quality people to choose from.
You wouldn't have to vote against your Party to remove a particularly offensive MP. Just vote for the other 35 candidates.
And if we make the candidate who gets the most votes Premier no matter which party gets the majority of seats we might finally take the politics out of Government and force more cooperation.
But best of all, every vote would actually HAVE the same value and we would have truly proportional representation.
No more winning 60 per cent of the seats with only 50 per cent of the vote and claiming you have a
"mandate".
Reader Comments
Posted: Friday, August 31, 2007
Comment by:
Democracy v.s. Mobocracy
I like your thoughts about absentee voting and I agree 100%. Island nations like Bermuda very much need an absentee voting process.
I also like that you are exploring proportionate representation. This general discussion also invites the debate about whether or not we should have an elected Senate.
Now, back to the issue of proportionate rep'n.
There is one significant problem with proportionate representation, and that is it invites radical elements to organize their own political parties. Currently the radicals are somewhat tempered by the modest elements in both parties. If we introduced proportionate representation, the radicals on both sides of the spectrum would probably free themselves from the current party frameworks in efforts to gain more influence. Now Dunkley is no radical, nor is Brown (I hope). There are (crazy) folks on the extreem left and right that would drive this island to the ground if they had things their way. If you look at Italy and Israel (for example) members of their legislative branches spend ridiculous amounts of time negociating and dealing with the commies and ultra nationalists. These radicals are not tolerant people and they do nothing but frustrate rational thinking and progress. Democracy is OK, but I feel proportionate representation is (playing with fire and) a little too much of Mobocracy for my liking.
