Sir, - In an effort to introduce some sanity significantly absent from the discussions on the US presidential election, may I present the issue in a relevant Irish context by referring to the election of Mary Robinson as president in 1990? Here is a pertinent report which was much appreciated by Mr Paddy Ashdown MP when I submitted it to him on November 28th, 1998:
"The country went to the polls on Wednesday November 7th, and the counting of the votes began the next morning. The count went into a second day, but the result was clear from the start. Lenihan received 44.1 per cent of the first preferences, Robinson 38.9 per cent, and Currie 17 per cent. More than 200,000 of Currie's votes, 76.7 per cent, transferred to Robinson. On the second count, Robinson won by 52.8 per cent to Lenihan's 47.2 per cent." Two things have significantly dominated the present US presidential election, viz., an initial election by the "first past the post" system and then the virtual eclipsing of the result by the bizarre entity, the Electoral College which can nullify the overall majority by assigning to certain states arbitrary electoral scores so as to enable the runner-up candidate to win and thus to become president with a minority of votes.
By contrast it is notable in the Irish context that a majority of political parties sustain a confidence in the Irish electorate to be able to vote 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. in order of choice of candidate - the British and Americans have no such confidence in their electorates apparently. Those whose votes fail to register initially in Ireland can at least feel confident that they are not immediately shredded or otherwise disposed of.
In praising the Liberal Democratic Party's campaign for democracy in the UK, I commented that "the first past the post system is undemocratic in imposing a mould upon society" and questioned: "How long will the present system of parties be relevant?"
Twice within the past century Fianna Fail has tried to abolish PR. Now Bertie Ahern is up to Jack Lynch's old tricks. Where will FF, and more significantly FG, be in 100 years' time or, for that matter, 1,000 years? PR provides for gradual and thus peaceful transition. The British-US systems do not.
This nation, which saved European civilisation and thus Western civilisation, must think again more closely about its options so as to become, once again, a beacon of light for humanity. Only a lack of a comprehensive civics course in the educational system makes us appear purblind and stupid when we so often fail to understand our options under PR. - Yours, etc.,
Derry Kelleher, Hillside Road, Greystones, Co Wicklow.