Voting Behaviour And The Media- Tactical Voting Flashcards
Tactical voting
When voters in UK general elections feel that their first-choice vote will be wasted because it is for a party that has no chance of winning, they may change their vote to their second choice.
What do tactical voters usually do?
These voters go against their usual instincts and vote for a candidate from a party that has the best chance of beating the candidate they most dislike.
Typically supporters of the Green Party may vote for
Typically, supporters of the Green Party may vote Labour to prevent a
Conservative candidate from winning
Meanwhile, a UKIP or Brexit Party voter may vote…
Meanwhile, a UKIP or Brexit Party voter may vote Conservative to keep
Labour from winning.
Tactical voting is important
+ The Electoral Reform Society
+ Websites such as SwapMyVote
+ Election expert John Curtice
Tactical voting is important
+ The Electoral Reform Society
+ The Electoral Reform Society estimates that 6.5 million voters ‘held their noses’ in the 2017 general election and voted tactically.
Tactical voting is important
+ Websites such as SwapMyVote
Websites such as SwapMy Vote have allowed for more precise tactical voting. These sites allow two voters in different constituencies to make an informal agreement to cast a vote for one another’s preferred party.
Tactical voting is important
+ Election expert John Curtice
+ Election expert John Curtice estimates that tactical voting could have affected the outcome in 77 constituencies in the 2015 general election.
Tactical voting is not important
+2019, Liberal Democrat voters
+Failed attempted to get tactical voters
+Formal advice
Tactical voting is not important
+2019, Liberal Democrat voters
+ In 2019, Liberal Democrat voters appeared less willing to cast their vote for Labour candidates than in 2017, resulting in a loss of several marginal seats for Labour.
Tactical voting is not important
+Failed attempted to get tactical voters
+ Attempts to persuade people to vote tactically often fail — the SNP won handsomely in Scotland in 2015 despite attempts by opposition parties to unite behind the same pro-union candidates.
Tactical voting is not important
+Formal advice
+ Parties seldom issue formal advice to voters on voting
tactically.
