ELECTORAL reform may be on the agenda for discussion but the Government should beware of making powerful enemies, most especially in the national broadcasting service. In RTE's Election 1997 Results And Analysis book, out now a month after polling, director general Bob Collins, writes: "RTE almost has a vested interest in maintaining our present voting system; it provides lengthy and exciting broadcasting on count days."
In his preface he writes that our electoral system may be very complicated but it is also very fair. It provides more information about voters' preferences than almost any other voting system used in other, democratic societies and lets the parties and analysts know what the people are saying on polling day.
Some 800 RTE workers were involved, he says, providing copy to eight outlets ranging from RTE 1 to the RTE website on the Internet. "This book includes all the raw details of the counts. It provides breakdowns of urban and rural voting, voting by category, the candidates with the highest percentage of the quota and many more details." It fails, however, Quidnunc notes, to give the first names of the candidates.
The limited edition of 400 copies is circulated, free, to members of the Oireachtas, government offices, political correspondents and other interested parties.