Q1 True or

false?
A Single Transferable Vote leads to coalition governments. False
B Alternative Vote (AV) is used in mayoral elections in England. True
C First-past-the-post tended to create strong, single-party True
governments from 1979 to 2005, but since 2010 much less so.
D Additional Member System is used in Scotland and Wales. True
E Additional Member System normally results in a single-party True
government.
F First-past-the-post leads to two-party dominance. False
G Regional Party List is used in the Northern Ireland Assembly. True
H Supplementary Vote (SV) gives voters two preferential votes. False
I In Regional Party List, a close connection is created between the True
representative and their constituents.

Q2 Key term
A Voters fill out their ballot paper by marking an X next to the Electoral
candidate they want to elect for their local area. They then cast a Commission
second vote for a party. A formula is applied to these second
votes so that they ‘top up’ parties in proportion to the number of
votes they received, trying to make the outcome more
proportional.
B Voters fill out their ballot paper by ranking the candidates in Cranborne
order of preference. If a candidate gets more than 50% of the money
vote, they are elected. If not, the bottom-placed candidate is
eliminated and their votes are redistributed by preference to the
remaining candidates. If a candidate now has more than 50%,
they win. If not, the process continues until someone has >50%.
C Voters fill out their ballot paper by marking an X next to the donation
candidate they want to elect. The candidate with the most votes
wins. Votes for losing candidates are ‘wasted’ in that they
cannot be redistributed. This leads people to tactically vote
based on who they think has a realistic chance of winning.
D Voters fill out their ballot paper with two votes, in order of their Short money
preference. If a candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, they
are elected. If not, all candidates except the top two are
eliminated and their votes are redistributed to the top two. The
candidate with the most votes then wins.
E The UK was divided up into large constituencies, each with election
several representatives. Votes filled out their ballot paper by expenses
picking a party ‘list’, which already had the candidates listed.
Parties, not voters, decided which candidates were on these lists.
Seats were allocated in each region based on vote share.
F Voters fill out their ballot paper by ranking the candidates in
order of preference. A threshold is set using a formula. This
 threshold is the number of valid votes divided by the number of
available seats plus one. Every candidate meeting this threshold
is elected. Their extra votes (votes beyond the number they
needed to get elected) are then distributed to other candidates in
order of preference. Low-scoring candidates get eliminated until
all seats are filled. This means there is more than one candidate
elected from a single, multi-member constituency.
Words to choose from: First Past the Post, Alternative Vote,
Supplementary Vote, Regional Party List, Additional Member System,
Supplementary Vote

Q3 Fill in the missing words

A criticism of FPTP is that the outcome does not reflect how people voted. For example,
on two separate occasions the party with the most votes has lost the election. This is why
some, including the Electoral Reform Society, believe it would be fairer to use
aproportional system. This could reduce the number of wasted votes, as under FPTP any
votes not cast for the winner – or any votes for the winner beyond the number they needed
to win – do not affect the result. Other systems, though, might result in more coalition
governments being formed, which some argue would limit effective government.
However, this argument – which has normally been used in favour of FPTP – is no longer
as valid as only once in the four elections since 2010 has a strong majority been formed
(2019).

The second most common electoral system in the UK is the Additional Member System.
This is used in devolved governments in Scotland and Wales, as well as in the Greater
London Assembly. It is a mixed system, having plurality contests as well as
proportionality, and was designed as a compromise. There are some drawbacks to this,
however. Some argue that it creates two classes of representative, as there are constituency
representatives as well as those elected via the proportional ‘list’ element.

Words: list, mixed, wasted, valid, Reform, classes, FPTP, Member, 2019,
proportional, two, compromise, Assembly, coalition, devolved,
government.

Q4 Write one pro and one con for each of the electoral systems below.
 First Past the Post (FPTP) 
Additional Member
 
System (AMS)
Single Transferable Vote
 
(STV)
 Supplementary Vote (SV) 