What was interesting was that every resident I spoke to - bar one - was against changing our tried and tested voting system. That included people from all walks of political life, not just Tories.
And no wonder. The Alternative Vote is costly, complicated and a con.
It will cost taxpayers up to £250 million to implement (not forgetting the additional £80+ million cost of holding the referendum). It is also fiendishly complicated as instead of placing an x by your preference, you have to rank candidates in order of your preference, as each vote is shuffled between your choices. That's why AV has only been used in three other countries.
It is also a con - because AV is less democratic because it often means that the person who wins is often not the one who got the most votes, but the one who gets the most second, third or even fourth and fifth preferences.
It is a bit like a Greyhound race in which the dog that crosses the finishing line first loses against the dog who most people have placed bets on!
Crazy. You bet. That us why I am certain that Harlow - and the rest of the country will vote to keep our democratic First Past the Post voting method on 5 May.
P.S. The pictures show me with Les Coben, Chairman of Harlow Pensioners Action Group and also with Two former Liberals, Colleen Morrison and Linda Pailing.
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