VOTE PEACH FOR A PEACH OF A PARTY!
SCOTTISH SOCIALIST PARTY URGES VOTERS TO USE THEIR SECOND VOTE - THE PEACH BALLOT PAPER – EFFECTIVELY

Since the introduction of Proportional Representation in Scotland, there has been untold confusion about the second ballot. According to one study, only 8% of the electorate actually understands how it works. Others wrongly assume that the second vote is a second preference, or that you must vote for the same party in each ballot.

How It Works

You get three votes. The first vote, the aquamarine ballot paper, is for the constituency seat, won on the traditional first past the post basis.

But the second, the peach ballot, is for the regional list seat where MSPs are elected on the Additional Members system. Voters cast their peach vote for a "party list", submitted by the party with their candidates in order of preference. If the party wins a list seat, the candidate at the top is elected. If the party wins two seats, the top second candidate is also elected and so on.

The peach vote is calculated thus: party list votes are totalled by region, not constituency, and then divided by the number of seats the party has won - plus one. This eliminates parties who have already won the majority of constituency seats. The party with the highest resulting total wins a seat. Seven MSPs are elected this way per region, totalling 56 in all.

The third vote, the white ballot, is for council seats.

When is a Second Vote a Wasted Vote?

The big idea behind PR is that it allows for a more representative and more diverse Scottish Parliament. When a party wins a significant proportion of the constituency seats - as Labour did in 1999 and some polls suggest the SNP might do this time round - they become ineligible for regional list "top-up" seats. Therefore, giving them your second vote could be seen as a wasted vote.

Leading academic David Miller, of Stirling University's Media Group, makes the point that a second vote for Labour in Glasgow, going by 1999's figures, is a wasted vote as Labour gained all constituency seats with 46.5% of the vote, so did not qualify for any list seats. Nonetheless, 112,588 people gave Labour their second vote. In Scotland as whole 735,497 voters wasted their second vote by giving it to Labour.

A further point he makes is that, by observing voting patterns from last time, supporters of small parties can vote tactically on the peach ballot to ensure that a Tory doesn't pick up a list seat.

Give the SSP your Peach Vote

Of course we'd like all your votes, but we especially need your second vote. So, even if you give us your first vote, make sure you give us your second. If you give another party your first vote, but would like to see the SSP in Holyrood, then give us your second vote.

If seven out of every hundred Scottish voters give us their second vote on May 1st, we could return 8 MSPs to Holyrood and give Scotland's consensus politics a serious wake-up call!
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For further information contact Tommy Sheridan on 07887 795075 or Hugh Kerr on 07713 063647