WHY do people like Martin Hannan seem to think that everyone who votes for the SNP is a permanent SNP voter (Activists on why both votes SNP is the way ahead at the election, September 30)? Do they really think the SNP own all the independence votes in Scotland? Well no, they don’t.

Those votes have gone to the SNP because there was no previous alternative to give them to. The SNP were the only party of independence and that’s why they got those votes. However, with the Alliance for Independence, Solidarity and other parties now planning to stand on the list, there is an alternative for people’s second votes. The first vote will in almost all cases still go to the SNP, but those voters are not all SNP members!

READ MORE: Independence activists on why both votes SNP is the way ahead at the election

In 2014 1.6 million people in Scotland voted for independence. The SNP has roughly 100,000 members. So where does Mr Hannan think the other 1.5 million votes for independence came from in 2014?

Nearly a million votes were wasted in 2016 on the regional list vote by people voting SNP in both constituency and regional seats. Those votes came from SNP supporters, ex-Labour supporters and even some ex-Liberal and ex-Tory supporters and others with no party affiliation, who all want Scotland to be independent. So the SNP doesn’t have a monopoly on independence.

The new indy parties like the Alliance are never going to beat the SNP in the constituencies and neither should they try, because they would simply split the vote and possibly cause a loss of seats. However, where these parties can get some semblance of representation is on the regional list, in the same way the Unionist parties do. Or are Mr Hannan and friends going to tell us all now that non-SNP supporters or voters, all across the Yes movement, are not allowed to have any form of representation? Are they simply meant to sit back and do nothing?

READ MORE: Kevin McKenna: SNP infighting the biggest threat to party in face of weak opposition

The Yes movement needs its own voice in Holyrood. The Greens have been getting list seats at every election and rarely ever stand anyone in the constituency seats. I don’t hear anyone accusing the Greens of vote-splitting though. Like when they stood a candidate in Edinburgh in 2016 and lost the SNP their seat by about 600 votes? I don’t see anyone complaining and saying the Greens are trying to play the system!

The list system in Scotland is a Unionist’s dream because they are virtually guaranteed seats every term. Well no more. People will have another choice next year, and that choice isn’t about playing the system, it is about giving all those people across the Yes movement a voice.

I will give my constituency vote to the SNP but I will give my regional vote to the Alliance for Independence.

Jim Manclark
Ardrossan

I AM a Green list candidate and chair of Yes North East Fife. I am very disappointed that the SNP are pushing “both votes SNP” again.

If you want the most SNP MSPs, then of course this makes sense. However if you want the most MSPs for independence, then it makes no sense at all.

Indy supporters voting Green on the list will increase the number of Yes MSPs, and just as importantly, it will reduce the number of Unionist MSPs. Anyone who thinks otherwise does not understand the D’Hondt voting system.

This is simply a case of the SNP putting their own party interests ahead of independence.

Nobody expects the SNP to suggest people vote for another party, but “both votes SNP” is an unnecessary intervention and it is damaging to the cause.

Andy Collins
Cupar, Fife