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 multimember 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+.
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 govnt.
 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 govnt.
 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
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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.