Unit 1 Electoral & Voting systems

Additional Member System (AMS) a mix of FPTP & List.

Used in Scotland & Wales.

Advantages:

• More proportional than FPTP
• Less wasted votes
• Maintains MP & constituency link
• More 'real' choice (split ticket voting)
• Keeps extreamist support low
• Allows 3rd parties in
• Removes winners Bonus

Disadvantages:

• Complicated, public need educating
• Encourrages tactical voting
• More split ballots

Plurality system - most number of votes wins.

'X'  in a box for your chosen constituency MP

Party want to get a majority of seats

May 2005 General Election Labour won 413 seats.

Advantages:

• Most likely outcome is a strong single party goverment
• Quick cheap & simple, get results the same day
• Encoureges participation

Disadvantages:

• Wasted votes, many people go unrepresented
• Winners bonus
• Not proportional outcome
• Two party system

(SV) All 1st preferable Votes Counted, if no one gets a majority everyone gets knocked out except the top 2

peoples second choice is the redistibuted to the top remaining 2 candidates

2008 Boris Johnson wins with 53% of votes, 28% of votes were redistributed.

Advantages:

• Clear winner
• Reduces Wasted Votes
• Stops extreamist parties
• Requires winner to have broad support

Disadvantages:

• Encourges tactical voting
• Encourages two party system
• Still some wasted votes
• Winner not necessarily the favourite, just least bad
• Winner may not win first round
• More complicated
• Increase voter apathy

Ordinal voting, place number in box next to party of choice. party in last place will have votes redisributed, this will happen until a party gets +50% of votes.

No Examples - 2010 coalition held referendum, the outcome is that it wasn't wanted.

Advantages:

• Clear winner
• Reduces wasted votes
• Stops extreamist parties
• Requires winner to have broad support
• Maintains link for MP & constituency

Disadvantages:

• Tactical voting
• Encourages a two party system
• Still wasted votes
• Wnner not necessarily the favourite, just least bad
• Winner may be not win 1st round
• more complicated, people will need educating
• Increase voter apathy
• Very expensive & takes alot of time
• Spoiled ballots

Each party before an election forms a list of candidates in order of importance.

public have one vote for a party, whatever the percentage gained is the percentage put in government.

There are variants of List Regional or National & Open or Closed

Regional & Closed is always used for EU Elections

Advantages:

• guarentees party proportionality
• More opportunity for minoritys Women Etc.  tend to involve large multi-member constituencies
• Open lists offer more choice control over who gets into power

Disadvantages:

• Long, complicated & expensive
• As candidates are selected by the party leaders, they are likely to put 'safe' candidates near the top of the list, at the expense of traditionally under-represented groups.
• Closed party lists offer very little in the way of voter choice: all the power, save that of choosing a party for government, resides with the party leaders.