Commie Pervert Geek Girl, Sep 2004
Originally published in Express

For some parts of the country, there's a radical change to the voting system this year - the introduction of STV (Single Transferable Vote). This is a great advance in the cause of democracy.

For example, image a council ward with three seats, in which just over half of the active voters are fundamentalist christians who either oppose or place little value on gay rights. Under the old FPP (First Past the Post) system, everyone would have had three votes, and all three seats would probably have been won by homophobic fundamentalists.

Under STV, each voter has a single first choice vote, but once their first choice wins a seat, any excess share of the vote overflows into the voters' second choices and so on. Much of the fundamentalist vote would be exhausted on the first seat. A liberal candidate would win the second seat, and the third would go to a moderate candidate that both sides preferred over each other's extremists. A much more representative outcome.

Unfortunately, only some Councils will be using STV this year. Aucklanders are one group who are still suffering badly under FPP. A majority of Aucklanders would like to get rid of notorious homophobe John Banks, but since there are several alternatives and only one (thank the goddess) Banks, guess who is leading in the polls?

In order to replace Banks, voters will have to choose the alternative candidate who seems to be most popular, irrespective of who they actually prefer. This is rather turning democracy upside-down - the best candidate should be decided by the votes of the people, rather than the votes of the people decided in advance by the media.

But one failure of democracy that can't be solved by STV is simply lack of participation. In some places, less than half of eligible voters bother to return their voting papers. Going back to my earlier example, that would require a dedicated fundamentalist population of just 25% to win all the seats in an FPP election. Even under STV, they'd be over-represented.

Voting in local body elections is important. (Especially for those of you who live in Wellington's Onslow-Western ward, because you get the option to vote for me! Aren't you lucky?) It might not have the glamour of parliamentary elections, but local councils do have a major impact on our lives. In particular, a supportive city council can make a big difference to queer community groups.

It's not too late to enrol, for those of you not already on the electoral roll - you can do so any time up until October 8, the day before voting closes. But if you're not on the roll yet, you won't be sent voting papers in the mail. Instead, you need to make a special vote. This is not difficult; just phone or visit your local council offices to obtain the forms.

Please do vote, and encourage your friends, family, and colleagues to do so as well.