Popular vote does matter

THE EDITOR: It is very strange that so many deniers of the UNC’s victory in the 2023 local government elections repeat the same argument over and over again: “The popular vote does not matter.” Those critics are clearly, yet surprisingly, ignorant of the electoral changes that have been implemented since 2013.

The Kamla Persad-Bissessar administration implemented historical legislation to change our electoral system so that the popular vote does indeed matter. This is what the proportional representation system is about. At least in local government elections, every vote counts, even if you are a minority UNC supporter in a majority PNM area, or vice versa.

Because of this, although it did not win a seat, the National Transformation Alliance (NTA) has an alderman in Diego Martin, due to the number of votes it received there. Likewise, although the UNC did not gain an extra seat in San Juan/Laventille, it did gain an extra alderman because of the number of votes it received in that corporation.

These critics need to update their old, tired anti-UNC diatribes. For ten years we have had proportional representation in local government, thanks to Persad-Bissessar.

Critics need to be reminded that the popular vote does matter, and the UNC did win.

MARISA VIDYA RAMLOGAN

Chaguanas