Electoral Systems

Question 1

FPTP

Answer 1

1) one ballot, one vote

2) mark an ‘X’ next to the candidate you want to vote for

3) candidate with the most votes wins

For UK general elections, the winning candidate becomes a member of the HoC, where they represent their constituency

A party needs ~320 members to win the election.

Question 2

AMS

Answer 2

1) two ballots (constituency and regional) , two votes

2) vote for local candidate and party

3) candidate with the most votes wins the constituency

4) constituency results compared to party votes and members are added and removed from parliament to match national party votes

Scottish Hollyrood and Welsh Senedd use this system

Question 3

STV

Answer 3

1) order candidates from favourite, 1, to least favourite. Spaces can be left blank

2) candidate must reach a certain quota to win the election

3) if nobody reaches the quota the people who selected thr least favourite candidate for their first choice have their votes moved to their second choice

4) Quota is adjusted and this repeats until a winner is found

Votes are also moved to the second choice if their first choice gets above the quota required.

Question 4

AV

Answer 4

1) one ballot. Order candidates from favourite,1, to least favourite. Spaces can be left blank

2) If more than 50%(+1) put the same first choice, that candidate is MP

3) if not, remove last place. People whose first choice was the last place, move those votes to each persons’ second choice.
4) Repeat until someone gets 50%(+1) votes