Media Advisory - 1 December 2002

STV Mock Election for Ruler of the Universe

Wellington City voters demonstrated that they could grasp the benefits of the Single Transferable Voting system by voting for STV in their referendum on 30 November. Here in Auckland, STV advocates will be staging a mock election for the "Ruler of the Universe" to demonstrate just how simple the Single Transferable Voting system is, to encourage voters to sign the STV Poll Demand before the 12th of December:

When: Monday, 2nd December

11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Where: Queen Street, Auckland

Near gate to Aotea Square

Candidates for the position include:

Darth Vader

Hans Solo

Luke Skywalker

Princess Leia

The role of Returning Officer will be played by Nandor Tanczos, MP.

Under first-past-the-post (FPP), votes for 'good' might be split among the several candidates allowing the forces of evil to be elected with less than a majority (50% + 1) of votes.

Under STV, the winning candidate must receive a majority of preferences in order to be elected. In our mock election, voters will use STV to elect the Ruler of the Univerise. They will be provided with ballots to complete by ranking the candidates in order of preference. Voters can rank as few or as many candidates as they like.

Auckland City voters have until 12 December to sign the STV Poll Demand calling for a binding referendum on the local voting system. Electoral reform advocates have been signing up thousands of supporters who want a say in their own democracy and want a chance to learn more about STV. Petitions are available in public libraries and can be downloaded from www.stvnz.org.

Join us on Monday, 2 December to see who will be elected the Ruler of the Universe. See for yourself that STV is easy as 1, 2, 3.

Contact: Lynne Serpe, 09-361-5975

Electoral Reform Coalition PO Box 5381, Auckland 09-361-5975 http://www.stvnz.org

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