Please don’t be bored with AV  

The Alternative Vote referendum. Please don’t stop reading here.  I know it’s tempting – but this one is important. Imagine London in 2012.  The Olympics.  100 metre sprint.  The world’s best are lined up ready to go.  The pistol fires, and just over nine seconds later Usain Bolt crosses the finishing line.  But then it’s not Usain Bolt who goes up on the podium to receive the gold medal but the guy who came third. Mad?  Well yes – and that is precisely how you will elect your representative if the country votes “yes” to AV on 5th May. Let me first answer the question that I get every time I raise the issue on the doorstep.  What is AV? It works like this.  You don’t just get one vote, one cross against one name on the ballot paper.  With AV you rank candidates by your preference. Sounds...