So what was that all about then?

Judging by the emails we've been getting. The "reform" in the electoral system isn't quite what people were hoping for, and the way the Government has been formed has caused a lot of people to question the alternative voting systems.

If you were one of the hundreds of people who is unhappy with how its all turned out then put pen to paper, devise an alternative system and send it to us for inclusion on the site and in the future exhibition. While you are no longer elligible for the main competition prize there will probably be a future public prize to tie in with any exhibition. Show us what you've got and show the politicians what real reform can be.

Also there is a really nice article about the competition on the Drum's website, see here.

Polling Day

So it is polling day, which the newspapers tell us promises to be the most exciting for a generation. Though due to the current electoral system its really only exciting for a few key marginal seats and the rest of us are acting out our fundamental but currently empty civic duty. If a party holds an 11000 majority in your area and has done for over fifty years it does make voting rather problematic and with a high percentage of the votes being cast to keep another party out rather to get a party in and with voting numbers low its seems there are huge problems with our system.

The main parties are saying that the reason voting attendance is so low is because of a lack of "connection" to the youth. They say that these "young folks" just aren't engaged with the idea of voting, but thats obviously not true - I think the current society is extremely engaged with the idea of voting. As the huge numbers of votes for X-factor, Big Brother and Stricly come dancing show, people like the idea of voting and are keen to do so where they know that their own vote actually matters. What puts people off voting is the thought that their vote doesn't matter.

Imagine if X-factor was run by the same means as the national election. Two or three of the acts get to sing for 90 mins and then the other ten get one minute each at the end, to show what they can do. The country is then divided up into a series of voting zones and instead of the act who achives the highest percentage of the overall national vote winning, its the person who gains the most of these voting zones. You'd soon see people complaining that the system wasn't fair and losing interest in voting. What's going on in the world when Simon Cowel has a better system that the national election??

Winners

We are pleased to announce the winners of the Common of Houses: Electoral Reform competition. The judging took place in London on Monday and our judges had a really hard time narrowing it down to just one winner. In fact it was so hard to sort out that in the end they chose one winner and three joint runners up. The winner will get the main prize (as chosen by you the public) and a subscription to The Drum magazine and two tickets to the Rose Awards. The runners up will all get some design books in the post very soon.

Winners

The Scoop System

Sarah Siena Edwards, Mark Rousseau, Luke Nagal and Oliver Mould

Joint Runners Up

Votebook

Ivan Paic

Vote in the Wall
David Croft
Donate your Vote
Richie Elliot

Congrats to all the winners and the other entrants. Remember that you can still submit your entries for uploading to the site. We have many more images still to upload and will be doing so over the next few days.

Public to choose the Winners prize

So the winner has been announced. Now we need you to vote for the prize that the winner will get. (All prizes candidates were suggested by the competition entrants). We will then attempt to obtain the prize with the most votes for the competition winner. (Please bear in mind it is a very limited budget and there will be artistic licence used in representing the prize.)

National Vottery

EXPLANATION OF IDEA
The section of the society in which voting attendance is lowest is also the section of society who play the lottery the most.

To encourage the public to vote we therefore suggest we use the same strategy the Government introduced in the mid 1990’s in a bid to encourage us to give more money to charity and to pay for the arts. We encourage people to gamble.

Each Voting ballot form is actually a FREE to enter lottery form. You cross the boxes against the parties in the order of your preference and then put into the voting machine.

The machine counts your vote and then prints out a little voting ticket which is not only a record of your vote but also your ticket in the great National Vottery.

If the order you chose when you placed your vote is the order in which the parties turn out at the end then you get a share in a Vottery prize fund of £10 million pounds.

I love them, I hate them

The "I LOVE THEM, I HATE THEM" voting system is an attempt to erradicate the horrible feeling we all get on election day when we have to decide if we will vote with our hearts for the party we want to get into power or if we vote with our heads and vote tactically to keep someone we dislike out. Our system uses the tried and tested gold ticket, silver ticket system spearheaded on 90's gameshow extravaganza The Crystal Maze.

Everyone gets two votes. One is a vote FOR the party who you want to get into power and the second is a vote AGAINST the party who you really don’t want to get into power. Like in the Crystal Maze every gold "for" vote counts towards that party entering No 10 while the silver "against" tickets are minus votes taken off the plus total.

This vote will more accurately represent not only peoples aspriations but also their fears. No more will people feel they have to use their positive vote tactically to keep another party out. Instead they can vote for the party whom they truelly love whilst at the same time striking a blow against someone who they truelly hate. Vote for a more balaned power, vote for I LOVE THEM, I HATE THEM.

Donate Your Vote

EXPLANATION OF IDEA

There are millions of people all over the world who live under a dictatorship and are deprived of the freedom to choose who governs them. It is within your power to give these people the rights they deserve.

Act today, and generously donate your democratic vote to someone less fortunate than yourself. All you have to do to sponsor a democratee is simply send your ballot paper, along with the manifestoes of all your candidates, to a recipient living under military rule or a dictatorship and allow them to decide on your behalf. In return we will send you your completed paper plus a photograph of your sponsored voter at the happy event of marking the X.

Sleep soundly in the knowledge that with as little as the cost of a first class stamp your vote will not be wasted. Allow your democratee the luxury of weighing up the suitability of each candidate for the job, before deciding the best party for you.

Your vote will be free from the interventions, manipulations and edits of the British media, and of course from your very own disinterested apathy or cynicism toward the process. You know whoever you choose to exercise your right to vote will undertake their responsibilities with utter conviction, safe in the knowledge that they will not be punished for their actions by their own leaders. They will certainly appreciate this chance at civil liberty more than you ever will.