Voting Systems
Last updated | 14/04/2011
The Single Transferable Vote (STV)
This system was used for the first time in Scotland at the
local government elections which took place on 3 May 2007.
Instead of marking a cross, voters indicate their preferences on
the ballot paper by ranking the candidates in order (first, second,
third, etc.) and may vote in this way for as many or as few of the
listed candidates as they wish.
A formula is then used to calculate who is elected for each
ward. Each Council ward returns either three or four councillors to
represent local people.
First Past the Post (FPTP)
This voting system is used in single-member parliamentary
constituencies. To vote under FPTP, the voter simply puts a cross
on the ballot paper next to one candidate. The candidate with the
most votes wins.
The Additional Member System (AMS)
AMS elects representatives from geographic constituencies and
others from party lists under a form of proportional
representation. Essentially, electors have two votes, one for the
party or individual candidate on a list and the other for a
candidate in a constituency. The constituency representatives are
elected under the first past the post system.
A Closed Party List
This is used to elect representatives to the European
Parliament. Rather than voting in a single -member constituency for
a specific candidate, electors vote only for a party in a
multi-member constituency, or, as in the case of Scotland, a whole
country. Each party's list of candidates, ranked accordingly to the
party's preference, is published on the ballot paper and electors
may place a single cross next to their choice. All the votes are
counted and each party is allocated seats in the constituency in
broadly the same proportion to the votes it has won. Those who
became the party's elected representatives are those placed highest
in the party's list of candidates.
