Propose A V Referendum Question Too Hard

[Ologhai Jones]

BBC website (30 September 2010): Voting referendum question 'too hard', says watchdog.

The question proposed by the government is: Do you want the United Kingdom to adopt the 'alternative vote' system instead of the current 'first past the post' system for electing Members of Parliament to the House of Commons?

The Electoral Commission's suggested redraft is: At present, the UK uses the 'first past the post' system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the 'alternative vote' system be used instead?

I would've thought it could be argued that, if a voter is of such a 'low level of education or literacy' as not to comprehend the former wording, they may not have the smarts to understand the issue anyway.

Perhaps it would be best to deliberately word the question with sufficient obfuscation such that it produces an effectively random (or at least arbitrary) response from those too stupid to understand the concepts underlying the question -- that way, the thickies will (on average) cancel each other out.

[porca misèria]

I saw that story, thought both wordings perfectly clear, and the original one a little better than the proposed rewording. The mind boggles.

Or maybe not. Quangoids making work for themselves, trying to justify their existence and jobs.