Ministers are planning a consultation on changes to the voting system after local elections in May. They have in mind a significant overhaul of electoral legislation to give voters a second vote. The will also propose opening polling stations at weekends and, crucially, they want to make voting compulsory.    

			Under the alternative voting system, ballot papers would allow for a second preference vote which would be redistributed from the lowest-scoring candidate's share until one candidate has more than 50 percent of the vote. The charges are intended to increase turnout and, says The Guardian to "improve the legitimacy of the Commons". The ministers hope the measures will "increase the authority

 of MPs" and reduce voter disengagement. These are a but of few of the overall changes being proposed, which include extending the system of "topical debates" in the Commons, so that MPs are seen to be talking about issues of immediate concern to the public.

What they don't seem to get though is that, having given away most of their powers to the European Union, with at least 70 percent of our laws made in Brussels – a figure set to increase – MPs are largely irrelevant.

When Gordon Brown came to power he promised radical reforms to restore trust in politics, but there has been little progress so far. The decision to examine Commons voting systems has been prompted by proposed reforms in the House of Lords, which will almost certainly be elected by a proportional voting system. Cross-party consensus has been reached on most elements of a smaller second chamber. But the research also suggested that the Tories could gain an overall Commons majority with a smaller share of the vote than under first past the post.

For more on this http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/mar/24/localgovernment.voterapathy
 

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