As part of the Political Primary Network, the East Wight Primary (EWP) followed in the footsteps of the South Devon Primary who succeeded in the campaign to get their People's Champion, Caroline Voeden (Lib Dem), elected as their MP ending almost a century of Tory rule.
Due to the withdrawal of direct engagement from progressive parties EWP chose to build a community to join in an online poll with the candidates from Green, Labour, and Liberal Democrat parties on the ballot.
From 20th June to 4th July EWP capaigned for its chosen People's Champion.
With the General Election complete EWP returns to its status as a non-party capaign.
During the course of the campaign we have brought together a large group of politically engaged, progressive constituents in East Wight. Please use the sign-up form at the bottom of this page to become a part of this community.
By booking a free ticket on Eventbrite, voters provided their email address, formal name, and their address. This was validated against the electoral register so that we knew the email addresses both:
Every validated email received a unique one-time voting lonk from our independent, secure, and secret platform: OpaVote (www.opavote.com).
For each person who shared an email address with another registered voter, we sent a voting code that could be used.
The three candidates from progressive parties were presented on the ballot.
The OpaVote vote was set up to use a ranked list so that voters put the three candidates into their preferred order. To prevent bias every voter's list was in a randomised order.
After confirming their chosen order of preference the vote is registered and the voters link was no longer useable. OpaVote do not store any connection between the votes and the voter - not even they know how anyone voted.
Counting ballots using Instant Runoff Voting (a form of Single Transferable Vote used to select a single candidate).
A total of 979 online voting slips were issued. The number of votes cast was 879.
As shown in the graphs, the result showed an overwhelming vote for Vix Lowthion and after full STV processing shows that she best represented two-thirds of those who took part.
They see that the three progressive parties have more in common than they have differences. So they are prepared to put their own loyalty to one side, to ensure the Conservative Party do not win yet again.
They know that their vote could be diluted and wasted if they were to stick with the party they’ve historically voted for.
They want to end 23 years of Conservative rule on the Island. They understand the importance of working WITH people from other parties to achieve that.
They have grown disillusioned with those currently running our country. The party they’ve been loyal to has changed from what it was.
They feel their party has lost its way.
They feel let down by abandoned promises.
They also feel uncomfortable that the party leaders are too right-wing.
As a result, these voters are reconsidering their support. They seek an alternative that returns to the centre with inclusive and community focussed policies.
They have often switched parties, depending on who they thought was best placed to beat their local MP. They understand that working together is the only truly tactical way to vote.
They need to assess which candidate has the strongest chance of defeating the Conservatives.
East Wight Primary will provide the clarity as to who has the most local public support. With YOUR support we can minimise the numbers of wasted votes and get a victory.
The power of our movement is in our community. Our most effective way to talk with our community is through our email list. Please sign-up.
