Equally important as voter participation itself is the electoral system used to determine the winners of an election. The electoral system of any government will determine who has power as well as what policy decisions will be implemented in the future. Some candidates who may win an election in one electoral system may lose in another.

In this article, we describe three common types of electoral systems used to elect governments today. Most election processes broadly fit into one of these categories, but in reality, every nation has unique attributes in its electoral process. We begin with the simplest of the three: Leader-Takes-All.

#1: Leader-Takes-All

In a Leader-Takes-All electoral system, the candidate with the most votes at the end of an election wins, no matter what percentage of the total votes he or she obtains. This percentage of votes earned by a candidate could even be very small — if they have more votes than other candidates, they will win the election. Voters are generally permitted to vote for only one candidate on a ballot in this type of system.

Given their nature, Leader-Takes-All elections generally favor the creation of two major political parties. Smaller political parties become disadvantaged here and are more likely to have difficulty building a sufficient voter base to win an election. Coalitions are often formed to increase a leading candidate’s chance of success.

#2: Majority Wins

In a Majority Wins electoral system, a candidate can only win an election if he or she receives a majority of the total votes. A majority is generally defined as 50% of the votes tallied, plus 1 vote.

In the situation where no candidate receives a majority of the votes in an election, a second round is called. The second round includes a smaller group of candidates who were top candidates from the first round. The second round could include the two top candidates, all candidates who pass a percentage threshold, or any other structure a government chooses.

Because Majority Wins systems provide the opportunity for candidates with a smaller percentage of votes to reach the second round, they consequently provide an advantage to smaller political parties. If a party wins even a modest minority of votes, it may be invited to a second round where it has the opportunity to compete against only a few candidates, perhaps only one.

#3: Proportional Representation

In a Proportional Representation (PR) electoral system, a candidate and/or political party wins seats in proportion to the percentage of total votes they receive in an election. PR systems are often used for electing legislative bodies with multiple representatives. If a political party were to receive 32% of votes, they would win approximately 32% of elected seats.

The most widely used types of PR systems are party-list PR, single transferable vote (STV) and mixed member PR (MMP). Below is a summary of each:

Party-list: Political parties form a list of candidates, and seats are won in proportion to the percentage of votes received. In other versions of the system, candidates are voted on directly with each vote also being counted towards their affiliated party.

Political parties form a list of candidates, and seats are won in proportion to the percentage of votes received. In other versions of the system, candidates are voted on directly with each vote also being counted towards their affiliated party. STV: Voters rank candidates according to their order of preference. If a voter’s first candidate is eliminated, his or her vote is then reassigned to other preferred candidates on their list based on rules of the electoral system.

Voters rank candidates according to their order of preference. If a voter’s first candidate is eliminated, his or her vote is then reassigned to other preferred candidates on their list based on rules of the electoral system. MMP: Each voter makes two selections on a ballot: one vote for a candidate and a separate vote for a party. Some seats are first filled by popular candidates with a high percentage of votes (similar to a Majority or Winner-Takes-All system). The remaining seats are then filled in line with each party’s percentage of the total so they obtain proportional representation.

Conclusion

The reasons why any government or nation arrives at a particular electoral system are complex, influenced by its unique history and beliefs. Technology also plays a role, with increasingly complex types of voting systems now becoming more viable.

What aspects of an electoral system are important to you?

Which electoral system would you personally choose?

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References:

Charles King

Electoral Reform Society

Wikipedia