What is a voting system?

 Elects MPs to Parliament.  Various forms used in different countries. • • • • •

Key Words

Legislature: a body that looks at, amends and rejects/approves laws. Reichstag: the lower house of the German Parliament. It was fully elected by people over 20 and formed the government. Reichsrat: the Reich council. It represented the states, indirectly elected by the Ländesrats of Germany. 67 members. Ländesrat: the state legislature/assembly. Had powers in areas like Education.

Parliamentary Government: the government is the majority party/parties in the Reichstag.

House of Commons Seating Arrangement

What voting systems are there?

 There are three main groups of voting system:  Majoritarian: a system that elects MPs using a majority. Be it a simple majority (whoever has the most votes wins (FPTP)) or a normal majority (50% +1 vote (AV)). Use single member seats. Systems: FPTP; AV; SV; and SB.

 Proportional: a system that elects MPs based on the % of the vote they get. E.g. 20% votes = 20% seats. Use multi member seats. Systems: List and STV.

 Hybrid: a system that does a mix of the above two systems. So 50% seats by PR and 50% by FPTP. Systems: AMS and AV+.

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Majoritarian - FPTP

FPTP = First Past the Post.  It elects MPs in single member constituencies.

 You put an “X” by the candidate you like.  E.g. If there was an election tomorrow in the Lancing constituency and the votes were as follows:  Party A: 10,000 - elected  Party B: 7,000  Party C: 3,000  Party A’s candidate is elected because he has the most votes. This is the system used in the UK.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages  It is simple to use and understand.

 There is a constituency link.

 Provides for strong government.

 Reduces the representation of fringe parties.

Disadvantages  It is not proportional.

 Tyranny of democracy – too strong a gov nt .

 Minority’s choice, not the majority’s.  It makes it harder for third and other parties to gain representation even with 23% of the vote. E.g. Lib Dems have only 57 seats (8%) with 23% of the vote.

Majoritarian – AV,SV and SB

 AV = Alternative Vote.  It elects MPs in single member constituencies. (all Majoritarian systems do).

 No “X” this time. You number candidates “1”, “2” “3” in order of preference.  To get elected you need 50% of the votes +1 to get elected.  If no one achieves 50% +1 then the candidate with the lowest votes is eliminated. This keep happening until one candidate achieves 50% +1. Proposed by the Coalition and used in Australia.

Majoritarian – AV,SV and SB 2

 SV = Supplementary Vote.  Same as above except if no one gets 50% +1 then only the top two candidates remain. Used in the London Mayoral elections.  SB = Second Ballot.

 Same as above, but if no one achieves 50% +1 then a second ballot is held with the top two candidates. Used in French Presidential elections.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages  Majority’s choice, not the minority’s.

 Still provides strong gov nt .

 Still provides a constituency link.  Easy to understand and use – if you can count to 5… Disadvantages  Still not proportional.

 Does little to account for representation issue.

 Still can fall prey to tyranny of democracy.

Proportional - List

 The list system lists candidates and/or parties. Votes are by preference as with AV. Seats are, however, distributed by % of vote achieved.  Uses multi-member constituencies.  E.g. If party A get 20% of the vote, it gets 20% of the seats.  Used by Germany until 1933.

 The list system has two versions:  Open: parties and candidates are listed. More candidate centric than closed.  Closed: parties only listed. Candidates are on party lists. The higher you are on the list the more likely you are to be elected.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages  It is proportional in the purest of forms.

 It provides representation for smaller parties.

 Cooperation is necessary because it is hard to get a majority.

Disadvantages  Weak government occurs.  Fringe parties can gain representation.

 No constituency link.

Proportional - STV

 STV = Single Transferable Vote.

 Elects MPs in multi-member constituencies.

 Uses a quota to elect MPs based on a formula.  If the candidate achieves the quota, they are elected. If they go over the quota their votes are redistributed.  If no candidate gets the quota then the candidate with the lowest vote is eliminated.  Used for NI Assembly elections.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages  It is proportional.

 It provides representation for smaller parties, but does makes it harder for fringe parties to get in.

 Constituencies are of a reasonable size in comparison to other PR systems.

Disadvantages  Constituencies are still in 100,000s.

 Weak government still occurs.

Hybrid - AMS

 AMS = Additional Member System.

 Uses a mix of multi-member and single member constituencies. The ratio is not fixed. i.e. it could be 50-50, 60-40 etc.  The candidates in the multi-member constituencies are elected using PR.

 The candidates in the single member constituencies are elected using FPTP.  This system is currently used in Germany post-1945 and Scotland and Wales Assembly elections.

Hybrid – AV+

 AV+ = Alternative Vote Plus.

 Same as AMS, but the single member constituency voting system used is AV.  This system is considered more proportional than AMS.

 This system is not currently used anywhere.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages  Best of both worlds – some MPs are proportionally elected and some have constituency link.

 Stronger government.

Disadvantages  Two classes of MP are created.