HARROW residents are heading to the polls today to decide whether to change the way we elect MPs. 

The national referendum is asking voters to decide whether to switch to Alternative Vote in Parliamentary elections, or to stick with First Past The Post. 

Alternative Vote – or AV – asks voters to rank the candidates in order of preference.  If a candidate wins more than 50 per cent of the vote, they win, and if not the lowest ranked candidate is knocked out and second preferences are redistributed. 

This process continues until one candidate has majority support and is declared the winner. 

In First Past The Post (FPTP), voters can only pick one candidate, and the winner is the one with the most votes cast. 

The Lib Dems and Greens have been fighting hard for a change to AV, and this referendum was a central demand of the coalition government agreement with the Tories.

Conservatives, however, are opposed to AV, while the Labour Party is divided on the issue and has given its members free reign to chose which side they are on.  

The polling stations open at 7am across the borough and close at 10pm this evening. 

The results are due to be counted tomorrow, and the results will be collated by the Electoral Commission and announced over the weekend.