A referendum will be held on whether to change the system for electing MPs at the same day of Sheffield local election.

Official referendum leaflet

The alternative vote referendum will be held in Sheffield on May 5,2011, the same day as elections to the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, the Northern Ireland Assembly and local elections in many parts of England.

Voters will be asked whether they want to replace the existing first-past-the-post system for electing MPs to Westminster with a method known as the alternative vote (AV).
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Electoral change
Instead of swapping the ‘X’on the ballot paper as it works under the “first past the post” system, The AV system asks voters to rank candidates in order of preference. Only first preference votes are counted initially. Anyone getting more than 50% of these is elected automatically. If that doesn’t happen, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their second choices allocated to the remaining candidates in a second round of counting. This process will continue until one candidate has 50% or more of the vote in that round of counting, or there are no more votes to be distributed.

Yes or No?
The proposal of AV has arouse furious debate among the public. Pro-AV campaigners represented by Liberal Democrat deputy Nick Clegg and Green Party leader Caroline Lucas said on BBC that the Alternative Vote (AV) system is not the best option but it is a “significant improvement” on the current first-past-the-post system.

Sheffield former miner and steel worker Charlie Simmons, said on the website of The Sheffield branch of Yes! to Fairer Votes, “I’m tired of governments being elected on a minority vote. If we had a voting system where every vote counted then local parties would be closer to local communities. We need to change the system and that’s why I’m voting Yes to AV”.

On contrast, Anti-AV campaigners represented by Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron claimed that The Alternative Vote is a complicated, expensive and unfair system that gives some people more votes than others.

Alec Wilson, student from Sheffield Hallam University said he will say no to AV because the current system is straightforward and easy to understand. And it generally leads to stable government and has historically reflected the will of the public. ” there is no need to change it at all.”

The referendum is overseen by the Electoral Commission. Votes will begin to be counted at 1600 BST on 6 May, the day after the poll. The outcome of the referendum is expected to be known later that evening, according to BBC.

Until now, there are only three countries in the world use AV system in elections :Australia,Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

Not clear about how AV voting works? see A beginners’ guide to the Alternative Vote (AV)

More on AV,

see Clegg’s unpopularity may derail voting reform

see Reaction to AV system on social media