Confused over one man one vote
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 06/18/2012 - 20:51
Someone please educate me! I am confused as to what 'one man one vote' means. What are the actual changes to the process. Please no political ranting, just an unbiased (haha like that's possible in Cayman) overview of the ACTUAL changes this would make.
Thanks,
Dummy who wants to know more and do the right thing.
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One Man One Vote or single
One Man One Vote or single member constituencies mean that there is only one seat for a particular area and you may only vote for one person in your specific area. In essence each district will still have the same number of representatives(or in the case of George Town 2 more and Bodden Town 1 more) but they will now be responsible for one specific area in their district. They will be fully accountable to you and your neighbours--they can no longer "pass the buck". When they all get to the LA they continue to represent ALL Caymanians collectively.
It cannot be correct for one Caymanian on one side of the street to have 4 or 6 votes and their neighbour across the road to only have 3 or 4. This is the current situation. It is not fair, it is not equal,....it is not a true democracy. OMOV is that simple.
Many of the myths out there are covered in this link, where you can download the OMOV brochure. http://www.onemanonevote.ky/
It is not the solution to all our political issues but it clearly moves us one step closer to true democracy.
I sincerely hope you vote YES on July 18 to make all Caymanians EQUAL as well as making your respresentative ACCOUNTABLE to you and your specific needs.
omov
Lots of other objective and realistic considerations tho:
- if 3 or 4 MLAs from a district (eg WBay or GT) go into Cabinet, wont their constitutents be disenfranchised due to the lack of time & attention they will miss out on?
- political parties will become even stronger and people more divided, for (just as in EEnd now - remember McLean Jr$$ ?) the ruling party will ensure that the opposition member in ANY constituency does not receive support for their proposals and their people.. thereby ensuring they will take the seat next time around.
etc etc
You are obviously trying hard
You are obviously trying hard to find an objection but you can't have it both ways: If your MLA is is in Cabinet he is going to neglect you, and if he is not in Cabinet but in opposition they are going to neglect you. We have always had situations where the representatives of a district are in Cabinet. Arden McLean was the sole MLA for EE and a Cabinet member yet obviously his constituents did not feel neglected at all since they re-elected him in 2009. He was also in opposition in 2001-2005 and they re-elected him in 2005. So much for "ensuring" the incumbent will lose his seat. EEnders do not vote according to party and are not fooled by political games. They vote according to the individual, and I don't know what great division you are talking about.
It really is not that
It really is not that complicated. You get one vote for one candidate in one seat. Perhaps the word "man" throws you. If you are a woman you will also get one vote for one candidate in one seat. If this is still too much for you, I suggest you perform your best civic duty by voting "Yes" on the referendum and then never ever voting again.
It is really very simple.
It is really very simple. Rather than the current system where a voter may have 1, 2, 3 or 4 votes depending on the electoral district in which he or she lives, each voter will have one vote regardless of district. The three Islands will be divided into 18 single member constituencies so that each constituency will be represented by one MLA. For example, what is currently West Bay electoral district would be four separate constituencies. Those are the ACTUAL changes. However, to weigh it up you must consider the potential benefits and disadvantages of the proposed system versus the old system. Unfortunately, these have been in some cases overstated even to the point of deception. The viewpoint article 'Realities and Rhetoric of One Man, One Vote' is a good exampIe of that.
I think the most obvious advantage of OMOV SMCs is that voters will focus on which ONE person will best represent them rather than as most often happens seeing only or two candidates worthy of their vote and then throwing away their remaining votes on undeserving candidates simply because they have extra votes and they happen to be of the same party as their favoured candidate or stand on the same platform. Let each candidate stand on their own two feet.
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