Post B2NGX4EGbBo3BejIPo by urlyman@mastodon.social
(DIR) More posts by urlyman@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #B2NGWtnfNEaQqGCuZ6 by urlyman@mastodon.social
2026-01-17T10:17:50Z
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The asymmetry of representative democracy is obvious enough. In the UK, each MP represents around 70,000 registered voters.It’s inevitable that everyone’s MP is more likely to be swayed by colleagues they talk to everyday and lobbyists paying to talk to them in person.Most petition platforms collect ‘signatures’ from email addresses they don’t verify in any way. They don’t verify that the email address exists, or that it belongs to the person in question, or that the person is in the UK…
(DIR) Post #B2NGWv6UWjEssw1SXw by urlyman@mastodon.social
2026-01-17T10:22:50Z
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…or that the person is in a particular constituency.It is possible to see if a person is on the electoral register but having a full set of that data costs ~£69,000.And even where a petition platform does do some or all of those things, the signatories don’t get allocated to constituency level so a particular MP feels no pressure on them personally. And even if it did, that petition is just one of a great many, usually untethered to any legislative timetable…https://mastodon.social/@urlyman/115683505345430865
(DIR) Post #B2NGWwIa5GVIaigd1s by urlyman@mastodon.social
2026-01-17T10:28:55Z
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…We have all this tech churning out mass comms, and it’s not even structured to work the way that a parliamentary system works.No wonder petitions are signing into a void. If we wanted something that *could* be meaningful it would do the following…
(DIR) Post #B2NGWxNa4A65wW28Se by urlyman@mastodon.social
2026-01-17T10:31:37Z
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…1. Collect the *minimum* amount of data for it to be possible for a third party to verify that a signatory is *probably* in a particular constituency (wouldn’t have to be the signature collector themselves)2. Align the signature with a particular legal clause that is timetabled to be voted on *soon*, or to be fed into a committee process Make MPs feel actual pressure from their actual constituents on particular matters they are actually employed to vote on
(DIR) Post #B2NGWyP2GEr57JioMq by urlyman@mastodon.social
2026-01-17T10:40:08Z
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…What might be a sufficient minimum of data?Well I presume that the electoral roll knows my full name, full postal address and date of birth. Is there more than one Jonathan Schofield in PO4? Possible but not probable. Other names will have greater likelihoods. My point being that the signature collector could know my first and last name and the first half of my postcode only…
(DIR) Post #B2NGWzUkCV12VJOsu8 by drgeraint@glasgow.social
2026-01-17T11:20:43Z
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@urlyman This is similar to how the UK and Scottish Parliament petition websites already work. Name, postcode and verified e-mail address.If you are thinking about 3rd party petition collectors, consider that directly influencing elected politicians may not be their primary purpose.
(DIR) Post #B2NGX4EGbBo3BejIPo by urlyman@mastodon.social
2026-01-17T10:43:17Z
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…That would not be sufficient to know that it’s me for sure but it would be sufficient to know that there is a considerable likelihood that it is me, in my constituency.Running it through an electoral roll API could score its likelihood. Yes, it could be gamed easily enough, yes it would be imprecise, but it would be a considerable step forward from a completely unverified and untargeted silo of ‘signatures’. Wouldn’t it?
(DIR) Post #B2NGXAFYDKOlrNNPFY by urlyman@mastodon.social
2026-01-17T11:05:05Z
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…Maybe something like I have outlined could be trialled at a constituency level, or a handful. Although buying the entire electoral roll costs enough to buy an expensive car, buying it for a single constituency would be about £125. Buying it for all of my city would be about £250 https://mastodon.social/@urlyman/115683505345430865