TURNOUT for May’s referendum on the voting system could fall to as low as 20% in parts of the North East, it has been claimed.
Campaigners fighting any change to the Westminster voting system say that could leave a “question” hanging over a yes result on May 5.
The warning comes as Labour leader Ed Miliband will today join former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy at a public event urging people to dump the First Past the Post system in favour of the alternative vote (AV) where candidates are ranked in order of preference.
NO to AV campaign director Matthew Elliott said turnout would be driven by whether other elections were taking place, for example local council polls.
In the North East, there are elections in Tyne and Wear but no county council elections in Northumberland or County Durham.
Mr Elliott said: “In areas of the country where there are no other elections, turnout will be about 20%.
“And I cannot see it getting above that despite our best efforts to generate interest in the referendum.” He added apathy would be a factor, which his campaign was trying to tackle with local events – although people would “definitely question” a yes result if there was a low turnout.
“A lot of people would question whether it had a democratic basis,” said Mr Elliott.
‘No’ campaigners also claimed most people voting Labour, Tory or Lib Dem would probably never have their second choice counted if the 2010 General Election had been run under AV.
But some BNP supporters would have had at least six of their choices counted in some constituencies, according to research by the NO to AV campaign.
“One person, one vote isn’t just the bedrock of the British voting system, it is a principle which has become a beacon to the rest of the world,” he said.
“The Alternative Vote threatens that principle and should be comprehensively rejected.”
Jeff Reid, Lib Dem leader of Northumberland County Council, predicted turnout would be around 30%.
“Our job is to try and capture the imagination of the public, both the yes and no campaigners, and make them believe this is important. We are deciding how our democracy is going to be run,” he said.
The Liberal Democrat said a yes vote would be a “stepping stone” to a more proportional voting system.
Katie Ghose, chairman of the Yes to Fairer Votes campaign, said: “AV is one person one vote. The difference is you get a vote that really counts and more of a say on who your local MP is.”
She also said ‘no’ campaigners needed to work harder if they were worried about apathy.
“Voters have had enough with business as usual at Westminster. They want their MPs to work harder for them. In May they get that chance,” she said.
