By Haylee Dilugi
How does the world vote? A voting or electoral system is the way in which we elect our representatives. There is a variety of different voting systems defined by varying features
First past the post is a voting system in which the candidate with the most votes wins. A candidate does not need a majority, but rather just more than their opponents. Many countries in the UK use this electoral system, as well as the United States in a variety of elections. It is believed that this type of voting system will lead to a two-party system, as demonstrated in the United States. Another byproduct of this system is a concept of ‘wasted votes’. This means that any vote not casted for the winning candidate is a wasted vote. For instance, if 57% of people voted for other candidates, and 13% did not vote at all, that means that 70% of people had no part in determining the winning candidate. This is often why first past the post systems are associated with low voter participation.
Another electoral system is the two round system, also known as a run-off election. During the first round of voting, if no single candidate reaches a majority of votes, a second round of voting is held with either the top two candidates or the top candidates who received a certain proportion of the votes. Whichever candidate wins the second round is then elected. This type of system is famously used in France. This system is slightly more representative than the first past the post system, however it still suffers from wasted votes. Furthermore, this electoral system encourages votes for smaller parties, as well as for parties to appeal to a wider audience because, in order to win a majority, it is necessary to have the support of the most people.
A proportional voting system is characterized by a system in which candidates proportionally reflect the votes they received. For example, if there are ten seats open in Congress and Party A receives 20% of the vote, Party B receives 40% of the votes, and Party C receives 40% of the vote then Party A gets 2 seats, Party B gets 4 seats, and Party C gets 4 seats. This type of system is only used in multi-member voting districts, such as votes for the House of Representative or Parliament, it is not possible to fill a single seat in a proportional manner. There are two main ways to vote in a proportional electoral system:
Closed List: Each party publishes a list of candidates for each area. On polling day the ballot paper just has a list of parties. Voters mark the party they support.
Open List: On the ballot paper, each party has a list of candidates. In some open-list systems voters must vote for an individual candidate. In others, voters can choose between voting for a party or their choice of candidate. A vote for a candidate is counted as a vote for their party when it is decided how many seats each party should receive.
The proportional voting system attempts to resolve the unfairness of the majoritarian voting systems found in first past the post and run-off elections. This system also highly benefits smaller parties and candidates to be elected, and avoids the two-party system.
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