This is kind of a big deal. On Tuesday Andy Burnham set the wheels in motion to change the UK’s voting system. He’s setting up a national commission on electoral reform that could make a proportional representation system more likely - where the result better represents the votes people cast. [1]
So what does this mean? Well, it could make our democracy a bit fairer. But we reckon Burnham should go a step further, and replace the House of Lords with a House of Citizens, and use more citizens’ assemblies to make big policy decisions - including this one!
Wouldn’t the best way to decide on how we should change our voting system be by using a citizens’ assembly? It’s been done before: they had a citizens’ assembly on electoral reform in British Columbia in 2004 and in Ontario in 2006. [2]
Sortition and our supporters are going to be working hard to make this case over the next few years. We’re really grateful to have your support.
There’s been plenty happening at Sortition lately. We’re still running our campaign to replace the House of Lords with a House of Citizens, and our campaign for a permanent citizens’ assembly in Greater Manchester. [3] And helping make all sorts of citizens’ assemblies happen around the UK and the world. Check out our latest news below.
Thanks again for your ongoing support. As we upgrade democracy we’re glad to have you with us.
From Brett, Caroline, Bea and all of us here at Sortition
P.S. You might notice this is a new look newsletter from a new email address! It’s still the Sortition Foundation :-)
Notes:
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens%27_Assembly_on_Electoral_Reform_(British_Columbia)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens%27_Assembly_on_Electoral_Reform_(Ontario)