Voting Systems (AQA GCSE Citizenship Studies): Revision Note

An introduction to elections

• The UK holds a number of elections for public office

  • Most elections are fixed term - they take place at a set time

• Local elections are votes where people choose councillors or local mayors

  • Most local elections are held on the first Thursday in May and if the office is held for four years, they occur on the first Thursday in May four years later

• General elections are nationwide votes where people choose Members of Parliament to decide which political party will form the government

  • The date of a general election is normally decided by the Prime Minister

    • It must be within five years of the last election

    • It is possible for Parliament to pass a vote of no confidence in the government and thereby force a general election to be called

• By-elections occur when there is a casual vacancy caused by a death, disqualification or resignation

First past the post

• First Past the Post (FPTP) is the voting system used in UK general elections and many local elections

• Each voter chooses one candidate by placing a cross (X) next to their name on a secret ballot paper, which is placed into a sealed ballot box at a polling station (or submitted by post)

How First Past the Post works

• In a general election, each area, known as a constituency, elects one Member of Parliament (MP)

• The candidate who receives the most votes wins the seat

  • They do not need a majority (over 50%) of the votes

• In local elections, the process is similar

  • Electors select their chosen candidate to represent a specific ward

• All other votes are not counted towards representation

• This system is described as winner takes all

Evaluation of First Past the Post

Why FPTP is controversial

• Supporters argue it creates stable governments

• Critics argue it is unfair and unrepresentative

• This debate has led to calls for electoral reform, such as proportional representation

Other voting systems in the UK

• Proportional voting systems help ensure that the number of seats a party or group wins closely matches the share of votes they receive

• Proportional systems aim to make election results fairer and more representative

  • Fewer votes are wasted and smaller parties have a better chance of gaining representation

Proportional voting systems used in the UK

Supplementary Vote (SV)

• Supplementary Vote has been used for directly elected mayors and Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in England

How the system works

• Voters choose a first-choice and a second-choice candidate

  • If one candidate receives more than 50% of first-choice votes, they win outright

  • If no candidate reaches 50%, all but the top two candidates are eliminated

  • The second-choice votes of eliminated candidates are then transferred if they chose one of the remaining two

  • The candidate with the most votes after transfers wins

Key points

• SV encourages candidates to appeal to a broader range of voters

• It reduces the chance of a winner being elected on a very small share of the vote

Single Transferable Vote (STV)

• The Single Transferable Vote is used for elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly

• It is also used in local elections in Northern Ireland and Scotland

How the system works

• Voters rank candidates in order of preference (1, 2, 3, etc.)

• A quota of votes is needed to be elected

  • If a candidate receives more votes than the quota, their surplus votes are transferred to voters’ next choices

  • If no candidate reaches the quota, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and their votes are transferred

  • This process continues until all seats are filled

Key points

• STV produces very proportional results

• Voters have more choice, including between candidates from the same party

• Elections using STV often result in coalition or power-sharing governments, especially in Northern Ireland

Additional Member System (AMS)

• The Additional Member System is used to elect members to:

  • The Scottish Parliament

  • The Welsh Parliament (Senedd)

  • The London Assembly

How the system works

• Voters are given two ballot papers:

  • One to elect a constituency representative using First Past the Post (FPTP)

  • One to vote for a party list in a wider region

• Seats from the party list are allocated to correct imbalances created by FPTP

  • For example, if a party deserves 15 seats overall based on its list vote but has already won 5 constituency seats, it receives 10 additional seats from its list

Key points

• AMS is a mixed system, combining FPTP and proportional representation

• It keeps a local representative while making results fairer overall

• Smaller parties gain better representation than under FPTP alone