Do people understand our voting system?

The local and European elections are a fortnight away and there will be wall-to-wall coverage on the candidates. What won’t be covered is the electoral system, because the body politic assumes that voters know how to vote.

Ireland is rare in having PR-STV (proportional representation through the single transferable vote), but when was the last time you saw an information advert, or received a booklet, explaining it?

How many readers know the answers to the following questions?

What does ‘1, 2, 3’ mean? Is there tactical voting? Why are candidates disappointed when voters say they will ‘give them a vote’? Is it alright to give a protest candidate your number one, and your preferred candidate a number two? How many readers know how to calculate the quota? Why are there multiple counts? Are transfers important, and are transfers from eliminated candidates better than from elected candidates? Why are some candidates elected without exceeding the quota?

Since we don’t have an electoral commission to educate the public, perhaps the media could explain PR-STV?

Jason Fitzharris

Rivervalley

Swords

Co Dublin