Proposal for a candidate-party ballot.
Given that some prefer to vote for a party brand while others prefer to vote for a candidate, what would be your thoughts on a candidate-party ballot?
What I mean by this is that the ballot would include the names of all local candidates and all registered national parties. A voter would get to choose only one.
Should he check a local candidate, his vote would go to that candidate for the duration of his mandate should he win, even if that candidate should leave his party and sit as an independent.
Alternatively, should he check a party, that party would decide how to distribute its share of the national vote between candidates.
This would make it clearer exactly who it is people voted for. For example, should the local candidate win the majority of votes, not only does he win a seat, but both he and his party also know that he has the backing of his local community should there be any policy differences between him and his party. This could be useful especially when the candidate has expressed unique ideas that might not necessarily align with his party's.
Should the candidate get few votes from the community but essentially gets bought out by a party that really likes him with the votes at its disposal, then in the event of any policy difference between that candidate and his party, they would both know the hand that feeds him, making him far more dependent on party loyalty to win the next election.
I believe that such a system could help to weaken party power in that those candidates who win a seat by their constituents would be free to be far bolder in disagreements with their party should it step out of line, with both him and his party knowing that he and not the party has the backing of his local community. It would also make it more difficult for any party to falsely claim that a vote for a candidate is a vote for the party.
Your thoughts on such a system?
Given that some prefer to vote for a party brand while others prefer to vote for a candidate, what would be your thoughts on a candidate-party ballot?
What I mean by this is that the ballot would include the names of all local candidates and all registered national parties. A voter would get to choose only one.
Should he check a local candidate, his vote would go to that candidate for the duration of his mandate should he win, even if that candidate should leave his party and sit as an independent.
Alternatively, should he check a party, that party would decide how to distribute its share of the national vote between candidates.
This would make it clearer exactly who it is people voted for. For example, should the local candidate win the majority of votes, not only does he win a seat, but both he and his party also know that he has the backing of his local community should there be any policy differences between him and his party. This could be useful especially when the candidate has expressed unique ideas that might not necessarily align with his party's.
Should the candidate get few votes from the community but essentially gets bought out by a party that really likes him with the votes at its disposal, then in the event of any policy difference between that candidate and his party, they would both know the hand that feeds him, making him far more dependent on party loyalty to win the next election.
I believe that such a system could help to weaken party power in that those candidates who win a seat by their constituents would be free to be far bolder in disagreements with their party should it step out of line, with both him and his party knowing that he and not the party has the backing of his local community. It would also make it more difficult for any party to falsely claim that a vote for a candidate is a vote for the party.
Your thoughts on such a system?