It Takes Longer to Count

The UK is on the threshold of voting change, so everything is inflamed.

This blog is not about politics (although as an Aussie I note with pride that “AV is used in three countries – Australia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea”)

This blog is about Clear Thinking.

The Guardian Article , under the heading “Those against AV argue:” includes:-

• It takes longer to count.

Disingenuous, is the correct term I think.

Yes, it takes longer to count, but with computers, how much longer? Does it take 20 minutes instead of 15?

And suppose manual counting? Does t take two days instead of one?

And in either case, with 3, 4 or 5 years between elections, Does It matter?

I’ve not run for office, but I imagine that a two-day gap between polling and announcing would be a welcome interval for campaigners.

But the bottom line is that a single microsecond longer justifies “It takes longer to count”, but for “It takes longer to count” to have any meaning at all we must have a quantifier (“How much longer?”) and some sort of impact statement.

Politics. Bah!

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