The Single Transferable Vote
- Submitted by: Kenneth Gibson, Cunninghame North, Scottish National Party.
- Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 May 2007
- Motion reference: S3M-00050
That the Parliament considers that the single transferable vote deeply disadvantages candidates with surnames towards the end of the alphabet when two or more candidates from a single party stand in the same council ward; is aware that in Cunninghame North, in the eight instances that two or more candidates from either the Conservative, Labour or Scottish National party stood, in every case the candidate whose surname came first in the alphabet obtained a much higher number of votes for that ward than colleagues whose surnames were further on in the alphabet; notes that the bigger the alphabetic gap the bigger the gulf in votes; is aware that this took place even on the two occasions where surnames were grouped by party and that the pattern was repeated elsewhere in Scotland, and therefore resolves, in the interests of fairness, that where more than one candidate from a party stands, their position on the ballot paper should be decided by lottery.
Amendments that have not been voted on
The Single Transferable Vote - Amendment - Amendment
Submitted by: Bill Wilson, West of Scotland, Scottish National Party, Date lodged: Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Supported by: Joe FitzPatrick
Current status: Taken in the chamber on Monday, January 1, 0001