Voting Reform

Democracy for 21st Century People It is often said that we live in a democracy. In fact we are described as subjects of our Queen rather than citizens, and the system of government is described as a constitutional monarchy. However, we don’t have a formal written constitution as it is simply the sum of the laws and regulations of the country and the monarchy has no real power other than a right of veto on Acts of Parliament, which, if ever used, would be swiftly terminated. The original Greek idea of Direct Democracy had everyone (unless they were slaves, women, etc.) vote for everything. As usual, the implementation does not reach the ideal, but it is a lot better than our Representative democracy where we have to select a person for 5 years who hopefully will work to implement the things we want. In practice our government specialises in implementing the things we don’t want, like Poll Tax, because their agenda is not the same as ours. Politicians want power (remember the saying that if voting changed anything it would be banned?) and their main concern is to retain it. Even where they seem to be doing what we would like as with Robin Cook’s ‘ethical dimension to foreign policy’, the outcome simply underlines the fact that a dimension can be very small or even imaginary. So, because we are now in the 21st century and are a sophisticated and mature society (well, for the sake of argument, just humour me), lets consider updating our system of election to try and rediscover some original ideals with up-to-date technology. And, hopefully, to re-engage those people selfdisenfranchised by disillusionment as well as those who vanished off the electoral role to avoid the Poll Tax. Now, one is never going to please everybody, and the first requirement of my proposal is an ID system. But rather than muddy the water with ideas of promoting the War on Terror, I would use the existing National Insurance system. Clean the database of everyone who is dead (another limitation of democracy – the dead are not allowed to vote!), expunge all duplications and dubious entries (long overdue, I’ll bet) and ensure that everyone of 18 years and above who is a UK citizen (not a subject) has an NI number. Once the database is right, you can then allocate a password/code which the holder can then change to suit their personal taste/memory and not a 4-digit number either – let them use words, names, dates, etc. Notice no card or biometrics at this stage! Now, the technical bit: It will not have escaped your notice that there are ‘Chip & Pin’ terminals everywhere. These can be your voting booths. Just key in your NI number and passcode and then vote. So, you’re away from home? Just go to the nearest shop! You can’t get out? Well, use your telephone (land line or mobile). You’re on holiday or business abroad? Just use the phone.

Ken Grayling

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8/3/2009

Democracy for 21st Century People Now, here is where it gets interesting. The key is in the word vote. Vote for (or against) everything, not for a person who can then ignore you unchallengeably for the next 5 years. Come on, it’s not that radical, they do it for Big Brother! The role of elected politicians would be, as now, to dream up ways of improving matters. They would then submit the resulting Bill not to such historical relics as the Lords or The Queen but to the people. Government of the people, by the people, for the people made fact, at last. And, of course, this must apply to the European Union as well, so no more grandiose schemes such as a Constitution that not even committed Europeans such as the French or the Dutch could swallow. Checks and balances? Well, the most effective would be a mechanism to advise if your vote has already been used (fraud). This would be discovered by the system not accepting your genuine attempt to vote. The system would then allow you to challenge and delete whatever the fraudster had done and trigger an automatic investigation (like where or by what means the fraudulent vote had been cast). Perhaps the use of back-up information such as mother’s maiden name or first school as already is the practice in on-line banking. Use of biometrics would enhance the security of the system, once these technologies can be demonstrated to be reliable. And the secret ballot – difficult to guarantee if you’re using the phone, but then postal voting isn’t secure, either. And there will always be some who can’t get to a ‘polling station’. Maybe the answer is to strictly limit phone voting to those bed-ridden, not those who can’t be bothered to step outdoors. So, let’s have a debate about this – I’m keen to hear from anyone who is dissatisfied with the present system of electoral representation. And let’s make a fuss – because that’s what gets politicians interested. [email protected] Ken Grayling Miacre Church Road Tharston Norfolk NR15 2YG

Ken Grayling

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8/3/2009