0.596 votes per person in Dorset West

Thought your election vote was worth one vote? Not according to the Vote Power Index.

In the Dorset West region, one person’s vote is worth 0.596 votes according to a new system based on the probability of seats changing hands.

The Vote Power Index website was created by New Economics Foundation, to prove that a lot of UK seats are safe and so many votes are unlikely to have an affect on the final result. Seats that are considered marginal are those that have a higher probability of changing hands.

In fact although the Conservatives have won the election in this region for the last four elections, the seat is considered marginal because of past voting results.  The average UK vote counts for 0.253 votes according to the website, so voters in Dorset West have 2.36 times more voting power than the national average. This is more than many would think, considering the success of the Conservatives here over the years.

In the 2005 election, the majority of votes in this area were divided between two parties, with 7.75% of votes for Labour, 41.9% of votes for Lib Dem and 46.53% of votes for Conservative. From the Vote Power website: “53.47% of those who voted in Dorset West in 2005 did not vote for the winning candidate. These votes count for nothing in the First Past the Post system.”

However this should not be taken as gospel. Those behind the Voting Power Index have a political agenda to achieve a proportional representation voting system. However there are some interesting questions to be asked as a result of their findings.

Is our current voting system fair? Do you consider your vote ‘wasted’ if you vote for a losing party? Is the knowledge that your vote is only worth 0.596 votes change anything?