first past the post Flashcards
how does first past the post work
in the uk we are split into 650 constituencies on constituency is 65,000 voters
one constituency=one seat in parliament
You can only vote once and only crosses on ballots count as legal votes
the candidate that gets the most votes wins
“the majority” means the difference between the winner second place
strenths of FPTP
its easy to understand
“the count”is also simple just putting a ballot in a pile
dont have to wait long for results
theres a constituency link
weaknesses of FPTP
you can be elected with less than half of the vote this is called “minority mandate”
lots of votes are basically wasted and dont count eg.for candidates who dont win
lots of votes are surplus and dont count which basically means any votes for the winner that is one more than second place
votes for smaller parties are considered a waste as there is no chance that they will win
THE LIST SYSTEM
a proportional system
paries produce a heirachal list of potential mps for all a vailable seats
voters vote for party not candidate
candidates are allocated to seats-may not have a local connection
advantages of the list system
most proportional system
no wasted/surplus votes
simple system
quick result
encourages high turnout
disadvantages of the list system
higher risk of extremism (this system was used to ellect hitler)
almost garuntees a coalition
unstable coalition-lots of elections
majoritarian voting systems
FPTP
alternative vote
supplementary vote
Proportional voting systems
list system
single transferrable vote
ALTERNATIVE VOTE
a majoritarian system
still has a constituency link
voter rank candidate
to win you HAVE to get 50% of the vote
candidates who finish last get eliminated and there votes get realocated until someone reciees 50% of the vote
advantages of the alternative vote
no minority mandate
a constituency link
low cahnce of extremist parties
less negative campaingning
reduces tactical voting
reduces numer of seats
more proportional than FPTP
less surplus votes
disadvantages of the alternative vote
most popular candidate may not win
not proportional
takes longer to count
SINGLE TRANSFERRABLE VOTE
a proportional system
multi-member constituencies (5 MPs for one constituency)
candidates gain seats in there constituency if they achieve a quota of votes
voters rank order the candidates
quota decided by the droop formula (numer of voters/number of avilable seats+1)
if no canditate reaches the quota then the loosing candidate is eliminated and preferences are reallocated
when a candidate reaches a quota votes are reallocated
advantages of STV
different parties represented with a constituency link
highly proportional
encourages high turnout
disadvanteges of constituency
longer time to calculate
most complex
high chance of coalition
long ballot paper
SUPLEMENTARY VOTE
a majoritarian system
