At the end of the day, it is up to us to actually get off our arses and show up and vote. No more of this 48% turnout crap. We need 100% of eligible voters to actually show up and make a choice. Whilst not a Labour fan, their leader got it right tonight when he suggested there should have been a question in the first referendum "Do you want a flag change? Yes or No". If "No" won it, then there would be no need for a second one and I am quite happy if that had been the first referendum on it's own.
I don't believe that it the right way of going about it to be honest because the question following is 'so what are we changing to?' People will never vote for change if they do not know what they are changing to because people fear the unknown and resist change.
If I put you on the end of a plank, blind fold you and ask you to jump not knowing if you are going to jump into shark infested waters or a pit full of money, I bet you dollars to doughnuts, you'll stay on the plank. It's the risk and reward process and the majority would not take the risk.
I don't agree with the execution of this change process because it is sloppy but I do think that the order is correct. Had I not seen the blue/black Lockwood fern flag, I would vote for the status quo but I believe that's better design. I suspect if every single person had an option to change to their own preferred choice of new flag, whether it be Red Peak, laser Kiwi or fried eggs on toast, the current one would be gone and that's because they know what they are changing too.
The amount of people (current 50k?) that say "Well if I can't have Red Peak, I'll take the status quo" supports my theory because people know their alternative to vote for when asking if they want a change.