COUNCILLOR Craig Roberton (Letters, June 2) is wrong when he says that a future elected mayor of Glasgow could only be chosen by first-past-the-post. He is, however, correct when he says that such a method could mean being elected with just 21% of the vote.
For such an important election, it is clear that the successful candidate should enjoy the support of a majority of electors. There is a system which would ensure such support and it is used in other countries for just these reasons.
The system is the Alternative Vote (AV) and it asks voters to rank the candidates in order of preference - 1, 2, 3, etc. If a candidate receives more than half of the first-preference (number one) votes, then that candidate clearly has majority support and is declared elected.
However, if no candidate enjoys such support, then the candidate who has the lowest number of first-preference votes is eliminated and his or her votes are reallocated according to the second preferences. This process continues until one candidate has the support of more than half the electorate.
The advantage of AV is that it means that voters no longer have to vote tactically in order to ensure that their vote counts. They can give their first preference to the candidate they truly want to vote for, knowing that if that person cannot win then their vote will be transferred.
Alex Folkes,
National Campaigns Officer,
Electoral Reform Society,
6 Chancel Street, London.
June 3.
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