voting systems

Question 1

AMS forms coalition gov

vs

public doesn’t vote for coalition gov

Answer 1

the 1999 and 2003 Scottish elections created coalition governments that passed many important laws in Scotland, such as the smoking ban

In 2021, the SNP and Scottish Greens political parties formed an unofficial coalition government so that the First Minister could rely on a majority in parliament, despite the Scottish Greens only winning 7 seats in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election

Question 2

FPTP easy to understand

vs

unproportionable result

Answer 2

in 2019, 67% of those eligible to vote turned out to vote in the UK general election compared to 64% of people for the more complicated Scottish election using AMS

in the 2019 general election the Conservatives gained 365 seats with 42% of the vote and Labour got 302 seats with 32% of the vote

Question 3

STV ranking votes

vs

AMS two votes

Answer 3

in 2017, the Scottish Green Party won 19 seats, five more than in 2012 due to the STV system, allowing smaller parties to gain a larger percentage of support

under AMS, smaller parties such as the Green Party are more likely to win regional MSPs as their votes are grouped together in larger regions, increasing the representation of different viewpoints in parliament