13-05-2016, 08:03 AM
amuir Wrote:George, a proxy vote gives one person too much power e.g. someone in say the Dundee or the Aberdeen league advertises on the local noticeboard “to save you travelling to Glasgow, give me your vote” – before you know it you might have 30 or 40 votes “to represent the league”. Then an issue comes up which you feel strongly about – perhaps to get a one-upmanship on someone or to settle a previous score. Your 40 votes swamp someone else with one vote. I have even complained at AGMs about having one measly vote. The heavies always come in at AGMs armed with handfuls of proxies. If people are now elected for 3-5 years, the unelected can be frozen out for what seems a lifetime.
If working properly, the proxy is simply representing the interests of someone else. So far we have just heard from Andy who, as a candidate, lost heavily and believes this can be explained by abuse of proxy voting. But is that true? Do we have anyone who has given their vote in proxy complaining they were misrepresented? Personally I have given my proxy before and have no issue.
I agree there is a theoretical risk but I have seen noone reporting their proxy was misused.