Whether you have a strong view, no view, or even no right to vote at all, surely no-one in London can have failed to notice that today sees the second ever UK-wide referendum on the Alternative Vote, so a politically themed post to mark the event.

Science-wise, organisations, publications and institutions have largely been quiet on the topic, and we have had no comment from the Science Minister David Willetts, although his Conservative Party’s official position is NO. The general mood seem to be that “who cares” is currently the main winner and there’s quite a lot of anecdotal evidence that many polling stations in London are quiet so far, but campaigning is still ongoing and polling stations are open until 10pm. For anyone who is still undecided, Nature Network blogger Tom Webb has analysed data from past Australian elections to see how the AV system stands up.

But AV is not the only vote going on today: London scientists may be more affected by a special assembly of the European Science Foundation (ESF) which is considering proposals to merge with the European Heads of Research Councils (EuroHORCs) and discontinue its grant funding activities. Members of EuroHORCS, who provide the majority of ESF’s funding and proposed this change, include the MRC, NERC and the BBSRC. No decision was reached yesterday discussion continues today.

Last but not least on the political front, an event next Tuesday at the RI: former Lib Dem science spokesman Dr Evan Harris will be speaking on the topic “Keeping libel laws out of science: have we succeeded?”.