Labour condemns tactical voting yet also practices it!

The Herald reports:

Labour has issued its clearest sign so far that it will mount its own tactical voting strategy in the Epsom electorate by encouraging its voters to give their electorate vote to National’s candidate, Paul Goldsmith, to try to edge out Act.

Labour candidate Michael Wood has produced a pamphlet that encourages voters to give their party vote to Labour, but does not carry a similar encouragement to vote for Mr Wood as electorate MP. Instead, it urges them to “vote to end the Act Party rort in Epsom” – effectively a code to vote for Mr Goldsmith in the strong National seat.

MMP is designed to give voters two votes. It is no surprise voters will vote tactically in a way to maximise the chance of their party making it into Government.

Labour tactically voted in Coromandel in 1999. Greens tactically voted in Ohariu, West Coast and Auckland Central where their candidates urged a tactical vote for the respective Labour candidates. And in Epsom they tactically vote to try to keep ACT out.

I’ve got no problem with that, but the hypocrisy of denouncing tactical voting as a dirty deal, yet advocating it yourself is, as always, more hypocrisy.