Transcript L66_Electoral systems quizx

Electoral systems:
How much do we know?
Organise yourselves
into groups of no more
than three. You will
need to answer 20
questions on electoral
systems in order to
check the progress of
your revision.
Electoral systems
Which of these systems are Proportional, which
Majoritarian and which Mixed?
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
First-past-the-post (FPTP)
The additional member system (AMS)
The supplementary vote (SV)
The single transferrable vote (STV)
List proportional representation (List PR)
Electoral systems
Which electoral system is used to elect the following:
VI. Members of the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments and
the Greater London Assembly
VII. Police and Crime Commissioners in England; mayors
in London, Bristol and (soon) Manchester
VIII.Local councillors in England and Wales
IX. Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly and local
government officials in Scotland
X. Members of the European Parliament
Electoral systems
XI. Which electoral system is being described?
A proportional representation system used to elect
members. Somewhat over half of the members of
these bodies are locally elected in constituencies
using FPTP, as above. The remaining 40 to 45
percent of representatives for each body are
elected in large regional areas using a proportional
representation system, in order to match every
party’s share of winning candidates to their vote
share.
Electoral systems
XII. Which electoral system is being described?
A system used to elect single office-holders for a whole
regional or local authority area (spanning many constituencies
or wards). Voters have a ballot paper with two columns on it,
one for their first choice and one for their second choice. A
candidate is elected straightaway if they have more than 50%
of the first preference votes cast. However, if no one has
majority support then the top two candidates go into a runoff
stage, and the candidates placed third, fourth, fifth etc are all
eliminated. The second preference votes of people who voted
for one of the eliminated candidates are added to the total for
those candidates still in the race. Whichever of the two top
candidates now has the most votes then wins.
Electoral systems
XIII. Which electoral system is being described?
A fully proportional system that for a country or locality as a whole will
match how many representatives a party wins closely to its votes
share. The number of constituencies is less (around a third or a fifth of
the number under FPTP) and they are bigger, so that we can elect
three to five representatives at a time in each local contest. Voters
mark their preference using numbers, so putting 1 for top choice, 2 for
their second choice, 3 for their third, and so on. If they want to, voters
can choose to support candidates from across different parties, so as
to exactly match their personal preferences. A complex counting
process (the d’Hont system) then operates that allocates seats in an
order to the candidates that have most votes, so as to get the best fit
possible between party vote shares and their number of local MPs.
Looking across the country or local authority area as a whole the
results should be proportional.
Electoral systems
XIV. Which electoral system is being described?
This is a preferential system where the voter has the chance
to rank the candidates in order of preference. The voter puts a
'1' by their first choice a '2' by their second choice, and so on,
until they no longer wish to express any further preferences or
run out of candidates.
Candidates are elected outright if they gain more than half of
the first preference votes. If not, the candidate who lost (the
one with least first preferences) is eliminated and their votes
are redistributed according to the second (or next available)
preference marked on the ballot paper. This process continues
until one candidate has half of the votes and is elected.
Electoral systems
XV. Which electoral system is being described?
The country is divided into 13 large regions, ranging in size from the
South East (10 seats) and London (8 seats) down to the North East and
Northern Ireland (3 seats each). The main parties all select enough
candidates to contest all of a region’s seats (while smaller parties may
only contest some of the available seats). The parties arrange their
candidates in an order, to form their List, where candidates are ranked
from the top in the order that the party will win seats if get enough
support. The ballot paper shows each party’s List of candidates and
voters choose just one party to support using a single X vote. Parties
win seats in proportion to the party’s vote share. So, suppose we have
a region with 10 seats where party A gets 40 per cent of the vote –
they should end up with 4 of the available seats.
Electoral systems
True or false?
XVI. There are no wasted votes under AMS
XVII. List PR is more favourable to smaller parties than
FPTP
XVIII. Elections are held every four years in Scotland and
Wales
XIX. Plurality systems tend towards two-party
dominance
XX. Proportional systems tend to coalition
governments pursuing policies for which no-one
explicitly voted
ANSWERS
Electoral systems
Which of these systems are Proportional, which
Majoritarian and which Mixed?
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
First-past-the-post (FPTP)
The additional member system (AMS)
The supplementary vote (SV)
The single transferrable vote (STV)
List proportional representation (List PR)
Ma
Mi
Ma
Pr
Pr
Electoral systems
Which electoral system is used to elect the following:
VI. Members of the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments and
the Greater London Assembly
AMS
VII. Police and Crime Commissioners in England; mayors
SV
in London, Bristol and (soon) Manchester
VIII.Local councillors in England and Wales
FPTP
IX. Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly and local
government officials in Scotland
STV
X. Members of the European Parliament
List PR
Electoral systems
AMS
XI. Which electoral system is being described?
A proportional representation system used to elect
members. Somewhat over half of the members of
these bodies are locally elected in constituencies
using FPTP, as above. The remaining 40 to 45 per
cent of representatives for each body are elected in
large regional areas using a proportional
representation system, so as to match every party’s
share of winning candidates to their votes share.
Electoral systems
SV
XII. Which electoral system is being described?
A system used to elect single office-holders for a whole
regional or local authority area (spanning many constituencies
or wards). Voters have a ballot paper with two columns on it,
one for their first choice and one for their second choice. A
candidate is elected straightaway if they have more than 50%
of the first preference votes cast. However, if no one has
majority support then the top two candidates go into a runoff
stage, and the candidates placed third, fourth, fifth etc are all
eliminated. The second preference votes of people who voted
for one of the eliminated candidates are added to the total for
those candidates still in the race. Whichever of the two top
candidates now has the most votes then wins.
Electoral systems
AV
XIII. Which electoral system is being described?
This is a preferential system where the voter has the chance
to rank the candidates in order of preference. The voter puts a
'1' by their first choice a '2' by their second choice, and so on,
until they no longer wish to express any further preferences or
run out of candidates.
Candidates are elected outright if they gain more than half of
the first preference votes. If not, the candidate who lost (the
one with least first preferences) is eliminated and their votes
are redistributed according to the second (or next available)
preference marked on the ballot paper. This process continues
until one candidate has half of the votes and is elected.
Electoral systems
STV
XIV. Which electoral system is being described?
A fully proportional system that for a country or locality as a whole will
match how many representatives a party wins closely to its votes
share. The number of constituencies is less (around a third or a fifth of
the number under FPTP) and they are bigger, so that we can elect
three to five representatives at a time in each local contest. Voters
mark their preference using numbers, so putting 1 for top choice, 2 for
their second choice, 3 for their third, and so on. If they want to, voters
can choose to support candidates from across different parties, so as
to exactly match their personal preferences. A complex counting
process (the d’Hont system) then operates that allocates seats in an
order to the candidates that have most votes, so as to get the best fit
possible between party vote shares and their number of local MPs.
Looking across the country or local authority area as a whole the
results should be proportional.
Electoral systems
List PR
XV. Which electoral system is being described?
The country is divided into 13 large regions, ranging in size from the South
East (10 seats) and London (8 seats) down to the North East and Northern
Ireland (3 seats each). The main parties all select enough candidates to
contest all of a region’s seats (while smaller parties may only contest some of
the available seats). The parties arrange their candidates in an order, to form
their List, where candidates are ranked from the top in the order that the
party will win seats if get enough support. The ballot paper shows each
party’s List of candidates and voters choose just one party to support using a
single X vote. Parties win seats in proportion to the party’s vote share. So,
suppose we have a region with 10 seats where party A gets 40 per cent of the
vote – they should end up with 4 of the available seats.
List PR
Electoral systems
True or false?
F
XVI. There are no wasted votes under AMS
XVII. List PR is more favourable to smaller parties than
T
FPTP
XVIII. Elections are held every four years in Scotland and
F
Wales
XIX. Plurality systems tend towards two-party
T
dominance
XX. Proportional systems tend to coalition
governments pursuing policies for which no-one T
explicitly voted