Stop tinkering with electoral system, just make voting compulsory

Published: 20 May, 2011

• CAROLINE Russell states that 57 per cent of voters in Islington said “yes” to AV (Victory for democracy, May 13).

In fact, the picture is not quite as Caroline sees it. While 57 per cent of Islington voters said “yes” to AV, only 35.68 per cent actually chose to vote.

So by my calculation, just 20 per cent were in favour of AV, while 80 per cent either actively voted “no” or didn’t think it important enough to vote at all – hardly a mandate for change.  

Maybe instead of tinkering with the electoral system we should be pressing for legislation to make voting compulsory – only then would we get a true picture of what the majority actually want.

SUE JANDY 
Highbury Hill, N5