Why is the current voting system in the UK flawed and how can it be improved?

[Danger]

I'm quite confident that you are exaggerating greatly when you state earlier that corruption is rampant in Canada

Perhaps "rampant" is an exaggeration, but it's how I feel in proportion to what it should be. There are several instances that I can bring up, but can't provide details without looking them up. Since you probably remember them yourself, I'll just give the overhead. There have been 3 cases featured on W5 in which the RCMP Special Tac Unit executed people instead of trying to apprehend them. The most predominant one was in BC where an ex-Forces man with PTSD called the cops to remove his brother from his property because he felt threatened. All they had to do was go and visit the scene, but when they heard that a mentally-ill soldier was involved they went twisted on it. Full Code-3, body armour with automative weapons and grenades, a helicopter, no negotiator... to arrest the guy who had called them. When the guy's mother came to talk him out, she was punched out by a cop and arrested for hindering. Needless to say, when the guy came out unarmed, they shot him dead. The civilian oversight commission, which is still in existence, glanced at it and determined that there had been no wrongful action.
Then there's the itty-bitty "No Right Turn" sign under a big right-turn arrow nestled among a half-dozen others on a corner in (Winnipeg? Regina?) where cops regularly park on their "coffee breaks".
Surely I don't have to bring up the corruption situation in Quebec., bikers own the docks in Vancouver, Mike Duffy is so dirty that he should be in US politics, we kicked out Redford for fraud... and that's just widely publicized stuff from the past few months. Remember David Milgaard? 23 years in prison for an innocent man because the cops were too lazy to do their jobs.
I'm a Canuck too, and that's far from what I find acceptable. Don't get me wrong; there's no way that I would want to live anywhere else, but it should be better.

 

[jbunniii]

There was a ballot initiative in the recent election to provide additional funding for the local open space authority to acquire more land, build new trails, etc. It required a 2/3rds majority to pass; the outcome is still too close to call nearly a week after the election. If it passes, it will most likely be by a margin of only a few hundred votes (in a county of nearly 2 million people). This sort of thing is more common than one might think, and it's one good reason to vote in every election.

 

[StatGuy2000]

Perhaps "rampant" is an exaggeration, but it's how I feel in proportion to what it should be. There are several instances that I can bring up, but can't provide details without looking them up. Since you probably remember them yourself, I'll just give the overhead. There have been 3 cases featured on W5 in which the RCMP Special Tac Unit executed people instead of trying to apprehend them. The most predominant one was in BC where an ex-Forces man with PTSD called the cops to remove his brother from his property because he felt threatened. All they had to do was go and visit the scene, but when they heard that a mentally-ill soldier was involved they went twisted on it. Full Code-3, body armour with automative weapons and grenades, a helicopter, no negotiator... to arrest the guy who had called them. When the guy's mother came to talk him out, she was punched out by a cop and arrested for hindering. Needless to say, when the guy came out unarmed, they shot him dead. The civilian oversight commission, which is still in existence, glanced at it and determined that there had been no wrongful action.
Then there's the itty-bitty "No Right Turn" sign under a big right-turn arrow nestled among a half-dozen others on a corner in (Winnipeg? Regina?) where cops regularly park on their "coffee breaks".
Surely I don't have to bring up the corruption situation in Quebec., bikers own the docks in Vancouver, Mike Duffy is so dirty that he should be in US politics, we kicked out Redford for fraud... and that's just widely publicized stuff from the past few months. Remember David Milgaard? 23 years in prison for an innocent man because the cops were too lazy to do their jobs.
I'm a Canuck too, and that's far from what I find acceptable. Don't get me wrong; there's no way that I would want to live anywhere else, but it should be better.

Part of the reason why investigative journalism programs like W5 (on CTV) or The Fifth Estate (on CBC) exist is to investigate cases of abuse of power, make people aware of these, and ultimately to hold these people to account.

Yes, I understand about the corruption situation in Quebec (which has resulted in the removal of a mayor in Montreal, and further investigation at the provincial level). Also keep in mind that Redford was in fact kicked out of the job of premier for abuse of her expenditures (I'm not sure it is legally "fraud" but I get your point) -- something that in many corrupt countries will not occur. And Mike Duffy, if I'm not mistaken, is still under investigation along with other the other 2 senators in the expenses scandal. As for bikers owning the docks in Vancouver, I'm not sure if that is still the case today.

As for the "No Right Turn" signs nestled in, never seen those in Ontario.

As for David Milgaard, I think this has more to do with incompetent or faulty police investigation as opposed to outright corruption, as I've heard no evidence that police actually engaged in actual wrongdoing (and with DNA evidence now being commonly used as a part of police investigation, there is less of a chance that an injustice of this particular type will occur again).

Now are any of these things acceptable in Canadian democracy? Of course not. We in Canada can and ought to do better, and I do see some evidence that there is a push to do better.

 

[Danger]

Part of the reason why investigative journalism programs like W5 (on CTV) or The Fifth Estate (on CBC) exist is to investigate cases of abuse of power, make people aware of these, and ultimately to hold these people to account.As for David Milgaard, I think this has more to do with incompetent or faulty police investigation as opposed to outright corruption, as I've heard no evidence that police actually engaged in actual wrongdoing (and with DNA evidence now being commonly used as a part of police investigation, there is less of a chance that an injustice of this particular type will occur again).

I think that I get your point; even though things aren't right, we have remedies available while others might not. That's valid. But it still usually requires persistent snooping and digging by outsiders or political opponents. Transparency should really be transparent, not filtered through so many distortion lenses as to be unrecognizable to the average citizen. (By the bye, now that you mention it, I believe that it was "The Fifth Estate" that I saw these things on.)
The street sign thing was an example from one particular central Canada town, which is why I put the 2 possible locations in "?" form, but the southern US states are notorious for it. While "Boss Hogg" on the "The Dukes of Hazzard" was a fictional buffoon, malicious real-life versions exist.
The Milgaard case was a bit more complex than you imply, with witness tampering and whatnot, but it's been dealt with as much as possible already.
Anyway, I take your point. It's not something to argue against.

 

[nikkkom]

I think that I get your point; even though things aren't right, we have remedies available while others might not. That's valid. But it still usually requires persistent snooping and digging by outsiders or political opponents. Transparency should really be transparent, not filtered through so many distortion lenses as to be unrecognizable to the average citizen.

Expecting people in power to not try to obfuscate their shady deals would be naive. Transparency can't realistically be expected to happen automatically. Needing "snooping and digging by outsiders or political opponents" is not a bug. It's a feature.

 

[Danger]

Needing "snooping and digging by outsiders or political opponents" is not a bug. It's a feature.

I mean that the transparency should be automatic and built-in so that such digging triggered by a random whistle-blower isn't necessary. No back-room deals.

 

[nikkkom]

I mean that the transparency should be automatic and built-in so that such digging triggered by a random whistle-blower isn't necessary. No back-room deals.

How do you propose to make sure that no back-room dealing happens?

 

[Danger]

How do you propose to make sure that no back-room dealing happens?

I'm not going to try to work out a specific mechanism, but some sort of "check sum" system. If the outcome doesn't coincide with the observed input, somebody's up to no good.

 

[lisab]

From a legal standpoint, no; from a practical one, yes. Some jurisdictions are essentially owned by organized crime or big business enterprises. On the small end of that, think of "speed traps" wherein a speed limit or stop sign is hidden behind foliage and police lie in wait for someone to ignore it. Most people (usually it's in tourist areas) just pay the fine because it would cost more to stay and fight the ticket. As to more important stuff, a lot of students have been put through law school by friends or relatives in mobs, and lawyers go on to become judges, senators, etc..

I'm going to have to disagree with you here, Danger. The "speed trap" thingy is mostly myth, like an urban legend. I think this because I drive like a crazed spider monkey and I've never (knock on wood!) had a speeding ticket.

Granted I've lived most of my life on the West coast - California, Alaska, Oregon, and Washington. But I've traveled quite a lot and these "traps" are talked about vaguely everywhere, but only vaguely.

As far as organized crime or big business owning jurisdictions -- I've never seen that or heard of it.

What nikkom said is right, I think: I'd never, ever think of bribing an official here -- especially a judge !

 

[SteamKing]

I'm going to have to disagree with you here, Danger. The "speed trap" thingy is mostly myth, like an urban legend. I think this because I drive like a crazed spider monkey and I've never (knock on wood!) had a speeding ticket.

Granted I've lived most of my life on the West coast - California, Alaska, Oregon, and Washington. But I've traveled quite a lot and these "traps" are talked about vaguely everywhere, but only vaguely.

You're living in the wrong places to encounter the classic speed trap, IMO. They still pop up occasionally, but the geography and the population of the town play a big part in their existence.

First and foremost, the speed trap has to be out of the way, but not so remote that people have no reason to drive thru the speed trap on their way to a more exciting or more worthy venue. Typically, the speed trap sits astride the only road from here thru the middle of nowhere to there, and it is vital that people use this road and no other to get from here to there.

Second, the people living in the speed trap depend on the revenue generated from those passing thru, who would probably not stop anyway because they're in a hurry to get to pressing business in here or there. The sheriff is going to be friends with the local magistrate and the prosecutor, or maybe related to them by blood or marriage, or he might be all three. Part of the revenue from the trap is going to keep the lights on in the sheriff's station or the courthouse or city hall or wherever. The more outside revenue can be raised from the trap, the less heavily the tax burden will fall on the locals to keep the town government running, and that's always a popular point to raise at election time.

This article discusses a journalist's rather unfortunate experience in driving thru an entire state which is effectively a speed trap: namely the Commonwealth of Virginia.

http://jalopnik.com/never-speed-in-virginia-lessons-from-my-three-days-in-1613604053

The entire state is built on the premise that speeders are inherently evil people who should be punished severely for their transgressions within its borders. The author's unfortunate experience led him to spend a weekend in stir for driving recklessly, which in the Old Dominion is a criminal charge which can result in revocation of the driver's license, a hefty fine, and/or up to one year in jail. Not the folksy hoosegow run by Sheriff Andy and his Aunt Bea in Mayberry, but a real life cross-bar hotel teeming with actual felons, like father rapers and such.

 

[Astronuc]

I'm going to have to disagree with you here, Danger. The "speed trap" thingy is mostly myth, like an urban legend. I think this because I drive like a crazed spider monkey and I've never (knock on wood!) had a speeding ticket.

Granted I've lived most of my life on the West coast - California, Alaska, Oregon, and Washington. But I've traveled quite a lot and these "traps" are talked about vaguely everywhere, but only vaguely.

As far as organized crime or big business owning jurisdictions -- I've never seen that or heard of it.

An example in Florida.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-towns-notorious-speed-traps-under-investigation/

I remember a racket in a town near Houston (1970s into early 1980s) where the local sheriff or constable could sit in his car and change the traffic light to red at will. He then wrote tickets for people running the red light. I wish I could find that documented in the newspaper.

 

[collinsmark]

I'm going to have to disagree with you here, Danger. The "speed trap" thingy is mostly myth, like an urban legend.

I can confirm Danger's claim on this one.

You might not have experienced such a speed trap being on the west coast.

When I first moved to the west coast I was surprised that everybody speeds. And I mean everybody, assuming the freeway isn't clogged up at the given time (it can be a speedway, but also a parking lot, depending on the time of day). If it's not clogged up, the general flow of relatively crowded traffic is all moving at roughly 10-15 mph (~16-24 kph) above the speed limit. You actually pose a bigger safety hazard if you're not speeding. So yeah, it's rare to get speeding tickets on the west coast (just don't speed near a school crosswalk, or get overzealous about it).

Go to the midwest USA on the other hand and you will see police officers hiding behind billboards with their radar guns trying to catch anybody they can. And while they may hide at the time, they are not secretive that they do such things. They're quite upfront about the habit and warn residents not to speed because there could be police officer hiding in wait. And if the general flow of traffic is speeding -- that's not an excuse. They will just pick off speeders at random.

 

[SteamKing]

There was a famous speed trap along Louisiana Highway 1, 'America's Energy Highway', which is the only way in or out of Port Fourchon by road. Port Fourchon is important because a lot of vessels dock there to service and supply the rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, so a lot of personnel and goods are traveling thru the little towns along this road. One town, Golden Meadow, was a particularly notorious sped trap, even into the 1990s:

http://www.speedtrap.org/city/4115/Golden Meadow

It got so bad at Golden Meadow and several other towns that a state legislator introduced a bill in the spring of 2014 which would have forced any municipality which derived more than 50 percent of revenue for city government by collecting fines from issuing traffic citations to post a sign at the city limits cautioning motorists they were entering a speed trap:

http://theadvocate.com/news/legislature/8717695-123/bill-would-label-some-towns

This bill, HB961, failed to pass when brought up for a vote:

http://legiscan.com/LA/votes/HB961/2014

 

[nikkkom]

I'm not going to try to work out a specific mechanism

Well, the history of last few centuries did develop a mechanism that works.

It's free press, allowing journalists to conduct investigations and publish their results without fear that they can be thrown to jail.
And existence of legal political opposition, which has a selfish interest in conducting such investigations and publishing results.

This system does work. I don't understand your dislike towards it. I do understand frustration against people in power being incapable of staying honest without this threat.

 

[jtbell]

Go to the midwest USA on the other hand and you will see police officers hiding behind billboards with their radar guns trying to catch anybody they can.

Or the southeast, e.g. Waldo and Hampton, Florida, a few miles apart on US 301.

 

[jtbell]

Getting back to the original topic of this thread... after a recount, our county board of elections has declared a tie vote in a school board contest in last week's election. There will be a re-vote next week.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Late to the party here; I always vote but it can be immensely frustrating thanks to the voting system we have in the UK. We have the fairly common first past the post system which means that the breakdown of MPs poorly reflects the breakdown in votes. At the last general election I was living in an area that was pretty much split between the two major parties, voting for anyone else would be a wasted vote so I was forced to vote tactically. Recently there were local council elections which were somewhat better as you could vote for multiple candidates but it's still not ideal.

What I'd like to see is a swap to STV or similar. A voting system that retains local voting but creates a national parliament that is more reflective of the overall votes and takes away the need for tactical voting. For those interested here is a good, simple video introducing the problems with FPTP and here is one by the same person on how STV works.