It is the Silencing of the Majority that is the RESULT of the First-Past-The-Post Electoral System. This type of Electoral System is only acceptable when there is Ballot with just a "Yes" or "No" choice. Even the name of this Electoral System suggests that there is a TARGET that the 'choice' on the Ballot needs to reach to WIN. First-Past-The-Post - the First one to reach the Post is the WINNER.
In reality we declare the WINNER as the LEADER in the RACE TO THE POST. NO ONE REACHES THE POST, we declare the WINNER before the RACE IS OVER! It there is 5 Candidates running to be elected to office, it is simply the Candidate with the most votes, upon the first and only ballot, that WINS. It is very unlikely that with 5 Candidates running that anyone would receive 50% +1 of the votes on the 1st ballot. In fact it is just as likely under this system that the WINNING CANDIDATE may only receive 21% of the votes, the other 4 Candidates split the other 79% of the votes. In this situation the VOICES of the 21% are the ONLY VOICES HEARD, the VOICES OF THE 79% ARE SILENCED!
It is with this type of SELECTIVE HEARING that leads to LOWER AND LOWER VOTER TURNOUT and a complete APATHY in our GOVERNMENT AND ELECTIONS. When the VOICES OF THE MAJORITY ARE SILENCED, the MAJORITY stops VOICING their positions. This is demonstrated over the last 30 years of a steady decline in VOTER TURNOUT, to the point where in the 2009 election there was barely 50% of Eligible Voters that actually VOTED (50.99%).
No comments:
Post a Comment