Electoral Systems- other methods

Question 1

What is supplementary vote used for?

Answer 1

Directly elected mayors in other towns and cities
Police and Crime Commissioner

Question 2

What did Johnson want to do with SV voting?

Answer 2

In 2021, the Johnson government announced plans to replace SV with FPTP for these elections. This happed as of 2023 as the London Mayor is now elected by FPTP

Question 3

What are the key features of SV?

Answer 3

-The voter records their first and second preferences on the ballot paper
-If no candidate wins a majority of first preferences, all but the top two candidates are eliminated and the second preference votes are added to the first preference votes. Most contests have seen the candidate who won most first preferences confirmed as the victor after
-The candidate with the highest total is elected

Question 4

What are the advantages of supplementary vote?

Answer 4

-The winning candidate must achieve broad support, giving them greater legitimacy
-Supporters of smaller parties can use their first preference to express their allegiance and their second party to indicate which major party candidate they prefer
-The votes of people who use both their votes to support minor parties do not influence the election outcome

Question 5

what are the disadvantages of SV?

Answer 5

-The winning candidate may be elected without winning a majority of votes if second preference votes are not used effectively.
-Voters need to use either of their preferences for one of the top two candidates in order to affect the outcome
The winning candidate does not need to get a majority of first preference votes.
-The candidate who secures most first preference votes may not be elected after second preferences are elected - the least unpopular, rather than the most popular candidate may be elected
-the system would not produce a proportional outcome if used for general elections

Question 6

Where is STV used?

Answer 6

Used in Northern Ireland for elections to the assembly, local government and general elections
Its also used in Scotland for local elections

Question 7

How does STV work?

Answer 7

-Representatives are elected in large multi-member constituencies. For example in NI assembly elections, 18 constituents each elect 6 members
-Voting is preferential- electors indicate their preferences by writing 1 besides the name of their first preference and 2 next to their second choice and so on
-Voting is ordinal- electors can vote for as many or as few candidates as they like
-A candidate must achieve a quota, in order to be elected.
The quota is calculated as follows:
total valid poll / (seats + 1) +1
If no candidate reaches the quota on the first count, the lowest place candidate is eliminated and their second preference votes transferred. This process is continued until someone reaches the quota

Question 8

What are the advantages of STV?

Answer 8

• It delivers proportional outcomes and ensures that votes are largely of equal value
  -The government is likely to consist of a party or group of parties that wins over 50% of the vote
  -Voters choose between a range of candidates, including different candidates from the same party, meaning there is greater choice

Question 9

What are the disadvantages of STV?

Answer 9

-Large multi-member constituencies weaken the link between individual MPs and their constituency
-It is likely to produce a coalition government that may be unstable and can give disproportional influence to minor parties that hold the balance of power

Question 10

Where is AMS used?

Answer 10

To elect the Scottish Parliament, Senedd and London Assembly

Question 11

What are the advantages of AMS?

Answer 11

-It combines the best features of FPTP and proportional representation, such as balancing desirability of constituency representation with fairness of outcomes
-Results are broadly proportional and votes are less likely to be wasted
-Voters have a greater choice. Split ticket voting is allowed: a voter may use their constituency vote to support a candidate from one party and their list vote to support a different party
-Some parties have used the system to improve representation of women: for example, by zipping- alternating male and female candidates on party lists
-Votes are easy to count and it’s not difficult for voters to understand how to outcome is reached

Question 12

How does AMS work?

Answer 12

-A proportion of seats in the legislative assembly are elected using FPTP in single member constituencies
-A smaller number of representatives are elected in multi-member constituencies using the regional list system
-Electors cast two votes: one in the single member constituency and one in the multi-member constituency

Question 13

How does the regional list part of AMS work?

Answer 13

-Political parties draw up a list of candidates and decide in which order they will be elected. It’s a closed list system, meaning electors cannot choose between candidates representing the same party
- regional list seats are allocated on a corrective basis to ensure that the total number of seats for parties in the assembly is proportional to the number of votes won
-Regional lists are allocated using the d’Hondt formula. The total number of votes for each party is divided by the number of seats it already has, plus the next seat to be allocated. So the party totals are first divided by 1, then by 2 and so on. The first seat goes to the party with the largest number, the next seat to the next highest number and so on
-Candidates are elected in the order they appear on the party list

Question 14

How does AMS work in Scotland?

Answer 14

73 out of 129 members are elected in single member constituencies and regional list is used to elect 56 members.

Question 15

What is gerrymandering?

Answer 15

the practice of drawing the boundaries of electoral districts in a way that gives one political party an unfair advantage over its rivals

Question 16

What are the disadvantages of AMS?

Answer 16

-It creates two categories of representatives, one with constituency duties and one without. This may create tensions within the legislative assembly
-Parties have significant control over the closed lists used to elect additional members and voters cannot choose between candidates from the same party
-Smaller parties are often under represented, because in multi member seats, only a few representatives are elected. Larger parties are also over represented if other voters are split evenly between smaller parties
-Proportional outcomes are less likely where the number of additional members is low, as in the Senedd

Question 17

Arguments that the three different voting systems have been effective in the UK

Answer 17

-more proportional election results
-the rise of multiparty politics is reflected in election outcomes with smaller parties winning seats
-Voters have greater choice as votes for smaller parties are less likely to be wasted
-minority/coalition govs in devolved nations have been stable on the whole
-voters have become more sophisticated, often engaging in split ticket voting

Question 18

Arguments that the three different voting systems have not been effective in the UK

Answer 18

-they aren’t always highly proportional
-Extremist parties have gained seats, such as the BNP, who won two seats in the 2009 European Parliamentary elections
-The closed list aspect of AMS restricts voter choice
-Weakened relationship between representatives and constituents
Turnout has been low
-Some voters appear confused by the different systems, evidenced in the relatively high number of wasted second preference votes and ruined ballot papers

Question 19

How would the different systems impacted on the type of government compared to FPTP?

Answer 19

Of the last four elections at Westminster, only the 2019 election produced a substantial parliamentary majority. Had any of the other systems been used, the Conservatives would have fallen short of a majority.

Question 20

Why are the three other voting systems better for reflecting party representation across the UK?

Answer 20

they better reflect the development of multi-party politics across the UK

Question 21

What has been happening to the health of the two party system?

Answer 21

The number of ‘effective parties’ was close to 2 in the 1950s, but this score had risen to almost 4 in 2015. However, FPTP has acted as a life support for the two party system, holding back, but not halting the advance of multiparty politics

Question 22

How would representation be different under the different electoral systems?

Answer 22

-More proportional, but still reward large parties and penalize small ones.

Question 23

How do the alternative voting systems give greater voter choice?

Answer 23

-these systems allow for split-ticket voting, in which an elector uses one of their votes to support first party choice, but their second vote to support a different party. This has allowed voting to become more sophisticated
-Voters recognize that votes are less wasted under AMS and STV, giving smaller parties a greater profile

Question 24

How do alternative voting systems effect turnout?

Answer 24

Evidence from other countries shows turnout in general elections conducted under PR is higher than where FPTP is used. Low turnout is common under ‘second-order’ elections that don’t determine who forms national government.

Question 25

What is evidence that AMS and STV causes problems with voters?

Answer 25

-Different electoral systems can be complex to understand.

Question 26

How can we evaluate which voting system is best?

Answer 26

The answer will depend on which element of representative democracy is viewed as most important

Question 27

Which voting systems are best if a high degree of proportionality is seen as the most important thing in democracy?

Answer 27

STV or regional list

Question 28

Which voting systems provide a clear MP to constituency link?

Answer 28

FPTP and SV

Question 29

Which voting systems are best in terms of large voter choice?

Answer 29

If a straightforward choice between the government and opposition party is desired, then FPTP might be preferred. If there is a choice of a range of parties then closed regional list might be preferred, but if a choice between candidates from the same party is wanted then STV is most optimal

Question 30

Which voting systems are more likely to select women or minority candidates?

Answer 30

AMS and STV

Question 31

Why may AMS be seen as giving voters the best of both worlds?

Answer 31

-They provide a degree of proportionality
-They continue to reward major parties and offer a link between constituents and an MP

Question 32

What might the quest in choosing an electoral system be regarded as?

Why is it not as simple as this?

Answer 32

Choosing which electoral system is best might be regarded as a trade-off between different criteria, notably between strong accountable governments and proportional representation.

However, it’s not as simple as that because FPTP didn’t produce single party governments with commanding majorities in 2010,15 or 17. Nor has the coalition in devolved nations been weak and unstable. Therefore, the best way to choose a party system is to look at the changing nature of the way the electorate are voting. In the case of a multi-party system, it will be more appropriate to have STV or AMS, while a two party system demands FPTP.

Question 33

What are the advantages of closed list voting system?

Answer 33

-ballot paper is simple
-proportional
-large constituency sizes reduces the need for tactical voting
-fairer for third parties, while thresholds can be set to prevent extreme parties getting in and preventing the vote becoming too fragmented
-Increased diversity

Question 34

What are the downsides of closed list systems?

Answer 34

-voters have no say over which politician is elected
-considerable power is given to party leaders
-constituencies need to be big, otherwise votes are wasted
-erases MP and constituency link
-high thresholds affect proportionality

Question 35

What are some of the different ways of assessing how beneficial each voting system is?

Answer 35

-Party representation and how accurate it is
-does it produce a strong and stable government
-impact on voter choice
-link between MP and constituents
-ability to select women or minority candidates
-impact on turnout

Question 36

Why move away from FPTP now more than ever?

Answer 36

Doesn’t reflect multi party system and doesn’t allow for the emergence of issues that increasingly don’t fall on the left-right spectrum