Letter: Unfair voting system worse than ever

Sir: A possible reform of the voting system would be to combine the retention of first-past-the-post in the booths with computerised voting in the House of Commons.

In the Commons the voting could be by the use of an electronic card bearing the member's name and party. The computer would store information on the number of members representing each party together with the national percentage of total votes cast for that party. Each MP's voting strength could thus be "weighted". For instance, if a party wins 430 seats on 43 per cent of the national vote, the calculation (43/430)x100 = 10 gives each of its MPs 10 units of voting strength. Similarly, the MPs of a party with 170 MPs on 34 per cent of the national vote would each have 20 votes in the House.

If all members from one party voted together their voting strength would reflect the proportion of votes cast at the election. Voters would mark their ballot papers as at present and there would be no "wasted" votes except those cast for a party which obtained no elected member.

A C INGALL

Dover, Kent