Greens Urge Voters to 'Make Every Vote Count'
Mon., April 30, 2007. 16:23.
Party issues guide to effective voting
First Vote Green
The Scottish Green Party today published a guide to effective voting across Scotland, which identifies the parts of the country where votes for other parties are least likely to make a difference.
The party points out that more Green votes are very likely to return more Green MSPs, whereas across Scotland regional votes for other parties have been wasted in large numbers both in 1999 and in 2003.
Mark Ruskell, the Greens’ Campaign Director, explained:
“Although the maths of this election are complicated, the bottom line is that where a party has already elected several MSPs, regional votes for that party may well be wasted. Across the country, depending on where you live, voting Labour, SNP or Lib Dem may literally make no difference to the outcome.
“Have a look at how it works in your region. Ironically, people used to say that a Green vote was a wasted vote, but under PR, more Green votes almost always elect more Greens, and last time it was Labour, SNP and Lib Dem votes that were wasted in large numbers. Whoever you back in your constituency, I urge you to first vote Green in your region if you want change, and if you want a greener and fairer Scotland.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
Central Scotland In 2003, 106,318 voters backed Labour in the regional vote, but because Labour had already won all but one of the constituency seats, all of these Labour votes literally did not count. In that same election, the SNP returned three MSPs in the regional vote, but the mathematics of PR mean each extra MSP gets successively less likely.
Additional regional votes in Central for either Labour or the SNP are unlikely to make a difference. However, it would have taken just 3,300 more Green votes in Central Region to see a Green MSP elected there in 2003.
Glasgow Again, in 2003, every single regional vote for Labour was wasted: more than 77,000 votes again failed to elect a single regional MSP because of Labour’s dominance of the Glasgow constituencies. If less than a fifth of those Labour voters had backed the Greens, they would have elected another Green MSP for Glasgow as well as Patrick Harvie.
Highlands and Islands In Highlands and Islands last time round, 31,655 Liberal Democrat regional votes were wasted when the Lib Dems took five out of the eight constituencies.
Again, it would have taken less than a fifth of those Lib Dem voters to switch to the Greens and Highlands would have returned a second Green MSP alongside Eleanor Scott.
Lothians 65,102 Labour regional votes in Lothian in 2003 failed to elect even one more Labour MSP.
Even though the Greens saw both Robin Harper and Mark Ballard elected in the Lothians at that election, it would have taken again have taken less than a fifth of Lothians Labour voters switching to the Greens just for the regional ballot to elect a third Green.
Mid Scotland and Fife In Mid Scotland and Fife, 63,239 voters backed Labour on the regional list in 2003 but did not elect a single extra Labour MSP. The SNP also returned five MSPs in Mid Scotland and Fife last time, making their chances of taking a sixth seat this time very low indeed.
If just 11,669 of those Labour voters, again, just a fifth, had backed the Greens on the regional ballot a second Green MSP would have been elected alongside Mark Ruskell. Additional Green votes are far more likely than additional SNP votes to elect an extra MSP in Mid Scotland and Fife.
North East Scotland In the North East, it was Lib Dem regional votes that were wasted in 2003, all 45,831 of them. If barely more than a quarter of those Lib Dem voters had backed the Greens instead, a second Green MSP would have been returned for the North East as well as Shiona Baird.
Here too, the SNP returned five MSPs last time overall, making the election of one more SNP MSP from the list this time extremely difficult, even if Alex Salmond fails to win Gordon.
West of Scotland 83,931 people voted Labour on the West of Scotland regional list last time, but returned no Labour list MSPs. If just 2,252 of those voters had switched to the Greens, the West would have elected a Green MSP for the first time.
South of Scotland Neither Lib Dem nor Labour regional votes in the South elected a single additional MSP in 2003. 78,955 Labour regional votes were effectively wasted, as were 27,026 votes cast for the Lib Dems in the South.
If just 13,395 of those votes had been cast for the Greens, a little more than an eighth of the total, a second Green MSP would have been elected for the South of Scotland alongside Chris Ballance.
Contact the Scottish Greens' press team on 07909 933 074.