Grab and change it, it's yours

[venta]

Does anyone know what the actual text which is actually going to appear on the actual ballot papers on May 5th is? A bit of googling hasn't turned up any results for me, but the pages I was finding suggest to me that I may have been going about my searching in the wrong way.

I'm kind of assuming that the ballot paper will look broadly like this:

[Poll #1729575]

Now, lots of campaigners would have you believe that this is analogous to:

[Poll #1729576]

And lots of other campaigners would have you believe it's analogous to:

[Poll #1729577]

You'll notice that the second two polls allow the results to be interpreted as pol(l)ar opposites.

So, does anyone know exactly what the question is? More to the point, has the government made any commitment at all about what they're going to do with the results, how they'll be interpreted, or whether Cameron will (in fact) go "oh, that's nice" and carry on regardless with the existing system?

Comments

[hoiho.livejournal.com]

Anecdotally, I see people saying things like "I want PR instead of AV, so I'm voting No"

It's not anecdotal - Lord Owen, ex leader of the SDP, is explicitly fronting a campaign called "No To AV, Yes To PR":

http://www.no2av-yes2pr.org/

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

It's a reasonable intellectual standpoint, but I think not a very practical one... can't see a referendum on PR being offered in the foreseeable future, as a defeat for AV in this coming referendum will be read as a victory for FPTP.

[al-fruitbat.livejournal.com]

Although conversely, why would a win for AV make PR more likely, rather than less? "We've already changed the system, now you want to change it again?"

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think that will be a pretty difficult ask as well. Just not quite as difficult, as at least the principle that it is sometimes OK to change voting systems will have been established.

(Personally I don't want PR, so I'm not bothered either way from that point of view.)

[emarkienna.livejournal.com]

In which case, I would say that one should vote for which of only AV or FPTP you prefer, not what you think is more likely to lead to PR.

(I know that there are some people who want PR voting no because they do believe AV to be worse than FPTP; but the site linked above appears to make no argument against AV compared with FPTP, and only talks in terms of what they think will be more likely to lead to PR.)

Having said that, it's no secret that people who want electoral reform prefer other systems. I'm not sure who "we" is in your quote - the Tories aren't going to offer PR in either case, but a "No" result means they can far more easily claim the public support their point of view. It's far harder to do that if there's a "Yes" result.

[vicarage.livejournal.com]

Odd for Owen to want this, as it would put PR outside his own lifetime.