Sir, – Further to Barry Walsh's letter (May 12th), the system of proportional representation for the Scottish parliament includes a second vote for the party of choice on the regional lists. Pro-independence parties won 50.1 per cent of the regional vote – in many ways a better indication of the level of support nationally.
This is all the more surprising given that in most regions a vote for the SNP was a wasted vote since the SNP had already won all or nearly all of the constituency seats in many regions and could not get more seats even with the largest regional vote. Similarly the Green Party voters are widely spread across the country and a constituency vote for the Greens is usually wasted.
Governments in most countries claim mandates on much less than 50 per cent of votes cast. So 50.1 per cent looks a bit like a mandate. – Yours, etc,
CHARLES NORMAND,
:fill(white):background_color(white)/static.themebuilder.aws.arc.pub/irishtimes/1647534191476.png)
Dublin 4.
Sir, – Barry Walsh contends that because the SNP and Greens obtained only 49 per cent of the constituency vote, the democratic case for a referendum fails, while also commenting that the majority in favour of a referendum in the Scottish Assembly is due to “the vagaries of the PR electoral system”.
The blended system of “first past the post” and PR actually makes it more difficult to obtain a governing majority in the Scottish Assembly than in the UK Westminster elections where, with the pure “first past the post” system, the Conservatives in 2019 obtained a massive majority with only 43.6 per cent of the vote.
The democratic case for a referendum is irrefutable if the votes of the SNP and Green Party members, mandated by their constituents, enable the Scottish Assembly to pass the Bill.
Of more concern is the referendum itself: will the voters be fully informed of the economic consequences of independence within the EU, and will the result be “decisive”, one way or the other? – Yours, etc,
JOHN McGILP,
Glenageary,
Co Dublin.