voting systems Flashcards
what is first past the post?
voters cast a vote for a single candidate, and the candidate with the most votes wins the election.
what are advantages of first past the post
- One representative is elected for each constituency and this usually means there will be a strong constituency-MP relationship.
- strong one party government: Usually one party wins the election which means the winning party gets five years to put its plans into action
- Simplicity: The FPTP system is easily understood and familiar
- Extremist parties find it hard to take power.
what are disadvantages of first past the post system?
- In most constituencies more people (in total) vote against the winning candidate than for them. Sometimes an MP can be elected on a vote as low as only 35%, a minority, of the vote. e.g.. conservatives winning 43% in the 2019 election
- Parties do not always gain fair representation: In 2015, UKIP polled 12.6% of the vote but returned only 1 MP. In 2019, Labour received 18% of the vote in Scotland but only returned 1 MP.
- Tactical voting: It is argued that FPTP encourages tactical voting as they think their vote will have little chance of helping elect their candidate
what is the Alternate vote system?
a MAJORITARIAN system, because the winner is supposed to get a majority of votes cast. It is also a preferential system because the voter ranks the candidates in order of preference. e.g. voter puts a ‘1’ by their first choice, a ‘2’ by their second choice, and so on until they either run out of candidates or no longer want to express any preferences.
where is AV used
the Labour Party leadership elections
What is the single transferable vote
voters number a list of candidates. number 1 being their favourite and number 2 being their second favourite and so on
advantages of AV
- reduces the need for tactical voting. Electors can vote for their first-choice candidate without fear of wasting their vote.
- It reduces the number of “safe seats” where the election result is a forgone conclusion
- It penalises extremist parties, who are unlikely to gain many second-preference votes.
disadvantages of AV
- AV is not proportional representation and in certain electoral conditions, such as landslides, can produce a more disproportional result than First Past the Post
- more confusing than first past the post
how is it counted?
Candidates are elected if they receive a certain quota of votes, which is calculated as the total number of votes cast, divided by (number of seats available+1), then add 1
where is STV used?
2017 Northern Ireland Assembly Election
what are the advantages of STV
- Can be highly proportional
- Creates competition for candidates from the same party, so they can be judged on their own strengths
- Several representatives exist for people
what are the negatives of STV?
- Single-party, strong government is very unlikely
- Could be divisive by creating competition between candidates from the same party
- more confusing then FPTP
what is the supplementary voting system
The Supplementary Vote (SV) is a voting system wherein voters rank their top two candidates instead of just voting for one.
why is SV voting used
In SV, the requirement needed to win the vote isn’t always 50%. If no candidate receives over 50% of the first preference votes, all but the top two candidates are eliminated. leading for all second preference votes to be added
what are the advantages of SV
Smaller or more extreme parties cannot boost their performance this way.
