Matt Wootton reports on the inventive and creative grass-roots campaigning for the Alternative Vote, that is taking off on the internet.
Matt Wootton studies cognitive policy with his colleague Rupert Read at the Green Words Workshop
While the official Yes to Fairer votes campaign has been criticised for an overly-conventional approach, unpaid and un-aligned campaigners have been coming together via the internet to produce videos, leaflets, games, postcards and events, overcoming the barriers of distance and anonymity.
One Facebook page has nearly 4000 fans.
Another Facebook group of which I am a member has been responsible for, amongst other things, producing a YouTube presence called “The People Say Yes”. Output so far includes a talking dog (Victor the AV Dog) with five different video messages about AV, who waves a little union jack on the end of his tail; a sober animated video showing how, contrary to the No campaign’s claims, AV is bad news for the BNP; and a video of the Jackson 5 song “ABC” with the Jackson brothers wearing Yes to AV rosettes, dancing on Westminster Bridge and singing: “That’s AV, it’s easy as 1 2 3”.
All our uploaded videos can be seen at The People Say Yes, YouTube page. One particularly fun campaign tool that you won’t find on YouTube is Let ‘Em AV It, a flash-powered online game where you take control of a friendly little Yes campaigner struggling to get his vote to the ballot box whilst battling the likes of a pixellated Ken Clarke, Rupert Murdoch and Nick Griffin. Stephen Fry has been playing it, and he tweeted as much.
There is also my own Yes! Postcards site , with over 50 different Yes-themed postcard messages. Our group is also collecting and “favouriting” other unofficial campaign efforts such as a video by one “C.G.P. Grey” who explains the Alternative Vote system with the use of jungle animals, a video that’s gone viral with nearly 100,000 views.
London-based singer-songwriter MJ Hibbett has written an upbeat cheeky song “I’m Saying Yes” (with the lyric “and I don’t care if that pleases Nick Clegg”). In Hibbett’s video Nick Clegg does a dance in fish-net tights, a wig and a mini-skirt. And TV historian and BBC One Show presenter Dan Snow is a favourite too, with his own video showing how AV is something we all do in our everyday lives. You can access our collected Favourites here.
Fate dictated that there would be only one official Yes campaign. That’s what the Electoral Commission asked for, and that’s what we’ve got. But there are more people than just the team at Yes to Fairer Votes with a stake in the referendum. There are thousands, if not millions of people in Britain who also care about the outcome. And the fact that there has been this swell of, dare I say capable and credible grass-roots output can only vouch for the sincerity, passion and commitment of pro-AV campaigners around the country, whether they are affiliated with the official Yes campaign or not.
43 Responses to “Unofficial Yes to AV campaigners are achieving success from the grass-roots”
Rupert Read
Ben is probably right. But it ain’t over til its over. Share share share these great videos and links!
Elliot Folan
Ben, if you really think that, they get out there and campaign – just as Rupert and the unofficial ‘Yes!’ campaign are doing.
Don’t just stand on the sidelines and pour criticism on everything. Get out and make a difference.
Daniel Pitt
Unofficial Yes to AV campaigners are achieving success from the grass-roots: http://bit.ly/mnnsWZ #Yes2AV
Dave
Don’t forget this poster: http://www.letsavabeer.com
CornwallNews
The proposed AV v FPTP UK Referendum consists of a contrived, fabricated and simplistic bipolar choice of only two inadequate options set against unfit UK Electoral Law, unfit UK Electoral Registers and unfit UK Election Returning Officer negligible powers of cross-constituency scrutiny. Election Returning Officers will be unable to guarantee ‘One Person-One Vote’ nor to sign off ANY part of such a referendum as ‘true’, ‘democratic’, ‘free’ or ‘fair’.
Here are fundamental AV v FPTP BOGUS REFERENDUM flaws:
1. UK Electoral Law – NOT ‘fit for purpose’.
2. UK Electoral Registers – NOT ‘fit for purpose’.
3. UK CERO powers – NOT ‘fit for purpose’.
A UK REFERENDUM MUST, ON PRINCIPLE, BE GUARANTEED TO BE VERIFIABLY AND GENUINELY ‘ONE PERSON-ONE VOTE’.
IF THIS AV v FPTP BOGUS REFERENDUM IS ATTEMPTED IT WILL NOT BE.
BOGUS UK ELECTORAL REGISTERS = BOGUS REFERENDUM:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/grahamsmith/2010/06/second_home_voters_1.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/grahamsmith/2010/06/secret_ballots_and_second_home.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/grahamsmith/2010/06/worried_about_second_home_vote.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/grahamsmith/2010/06/kevins_too_busy_to_probe_secon.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/grahamsmith/2010/06/game_on.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/grahamsmith/2010/06/a_letter_to_the_chief.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/grahamsmith/2011/04/some_second_home_voters_purged.html
In the face of such corrupt and non-democratic electoral foundations, these may be the only rational responses to the RUBBISH REFERENDUM:
BOYCOTT THE LIBERAL DEMOCRAT CONSERVATIVE PARTY CAMERON CLEGG COALITION BOGUS AV v FPTP REFERENDUM.
OR
SPOIL YOUR BALLOT PAPER WITH A SUITABLY CONSTRUCTIVE COMMENT IN RESPONSE TO THE BOGUS AV v FPTP UK REFERENDUM – A LIBDEMCON COALITION CON.
NOTE: ALL SPOILED BALLOT PAPERS HAVE TO BE RECORDED AND NUMBERS PUBLISHED.
ANYONE WHO VALUES GENUINE DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES AND WISHES TO SEE GENUINE ‘ONE PERSON-ONE VOTE’ DEMOCRACY IN THE UK WILL NOT ENDORSE THIS ABSURD, INFANTILE, UNSOUND, NON-CREDIBLE, SHALLOW, RESTRICTED AND INSULTING BOGUS REFERENDUM WITH THEIR VALUABLE VOTE.
CONSIDER THIS:
IF THE NUMBER OF SPOILED BALLOT PAPERS EXCEEDS THE ‘YES’s, THE ‘NO’s or BOTH – WHAT NEXT?
With our compliments
The Editors
CN