Call for prayerful consideration ahead of AV referendum

The organisation has produced a briefing to help Christians make sense of the advantages and disadvantages of the alternative vote.

The first past the post system operates on the basis of voters casting a single vote for the candidate of their choice. The winner is the candidate who secures the largest share of votes.

On May 5, Britons are being asked whether they want to replace the first past the past system with AV.

The AV system asks voters to list candidates numerically in order of preference. The winning candidate must secure more than 50% of the votes but if this is not achieved with the first preference votes, then the least popular candidate is eliminated and the votes are redistributed until someone reaches the 50% line.

The briefing notes that the results of the referendum are binding on the Government regardless of the turnout.

It does not tell Christians which way to vote but rather outlines the arguments of the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ campaigns and points to some useful biblical principles.

While some are concerned that first past the post marginalises Christian concerns, the briefing notes that the AV system can lead to some “surprising” results depending on how preference votes are used by supporters of the different candidates, with the possibility that the winning candidate may have been third on preference votes.

While voters are free under AV to vote for only one candidate where they disagree with the rest, the briefing warns that leaving the rest of the ballot paper blank could lessen the influence a voter has on the outcome of the vote.

The briefing makes clear that Christians will still be free to exercise their conscience in choosing a candidate because both voting systems retain the link with the constituency, allowing people to vote for an individual rather than just choose a party from a list, as currently happens with European elections.

While Christians would still be able to base their vote on a party rather than a candidate under AV, the possibility of more coalition governments means that party negotiations conducted after the election would tend to decide what policies are implemented, the briefing warns.

It also states that AV’s 50% threshold means the system would not make it any more likely that Christian parties would win seats.

AV may also not help candidates with clear moral convictions.

“Whatever advantages a consensual approach may or may not have, when it comes to moral issues there will certainly be pressure on candidates to fudge or keep quiet about their convictions in order to pick up second and third preference votes,” the briefing states.

When deciding on whether or not to vote for AV, the Christian Institute advised Christians to take into consideration the general principle that the role of government is to restrain evil and promote what is good (Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:14).

“Is AV an improvement so that electors can better exercise their powers to restrain evil and promote good?” the briefing concludes.

Christians remain divided over AV. Lib Dem President Tim Farron supports a switch to AV, as do 10 Church of England bishops, including the Bishop of St Albans, the Bishop of Ripon and Leeds and the Bishop of Exeter.

In favour of the current system are Christian politicians David Burrowes MP (Tory) and Gavin Shuker MP (Labour).

Christian Institute director Colin Hart encouraged Christians to get informed and use their vote.

He said: “As Christian citizens, we must take the privilege and responsibility of voting very seriously. The upcoming referendum on whether to switch from our current first past the post system to the alternative vote is very important.

“The Christian Institute is a registered charity and, as such, we cannot tell you which way to vote. But we have produced a briefing to help you as you prayerfully consider how you will cast your ballot.”

Online: www.christian.org.uk/wp-content/downloads/alternative-vote-referendum.pdf