Elections Flashcards
(20 cards)
What types of elections are there?
General elections:
To elect MPs to the
Commons
Local/regional elections:
Could include electing
councillors for local
government (county/district
councils etc) as well as elected mayors, police and crime commissioners and elections to
Scottish/Welsh/NI parliament.
Referendums
Usually a national vote on a
single issue – Brexit,
Scottish independence
What is the basics of a general election work?
All sitting MPs formally resign to
contest their seats.
Elections are held simultaneously in
every constituency.
- new parliament is summoned by
the sovereign once votes have been
counted and seats allocated
What is a maximum term of parliament?
A maximum term of parliament is 5 years since the day they met.
When does polling day take place and when could it take place sooner?
After the five year term of when the parliament will automatically dissolve, 25 days later, the polling date will take place excluding weekends.
It can take place sooner-
Government looses a vote of confidence or at least 2/3 of the house of commons calls for a general election.
What is the average size of a constituent in England and who chairs the commons?
There is 650 constituents in England, the average size people around 72,000 people in them. The speaker chairs the house of commons.
How does the commons electoral system work?
The winner is the candidate who has the most votes in their constituent and the party that has the most seats in commons becomes the government.
The party that has the most seats in parliament and all the other independent MPs when counted together has the overall majority vote.
What does the overall majority mean?
The party that has the most seats in parliament and all the other independent MPs when counted together has the overall majority vote.
What does a hung parliament mean?
A hung parliament means that the party with the most votes only has a hand fall more than the minority. The last time this happened was 2017.
How do you have the right to vote?
To have the right to vote-
over 18+
not be legally excluded
Be a british, Irish or common wealth citizen
Be a citizen at an English address or in Gibraltar, or be registered to vote in the Uk in the last 15 years but living abroad.
What are some voting quirks?
If you are a member of the royal navy, you can vote where you previously lived before your service.
If you are a holiday maker, you can have an absent vote, if it reasonable that you can’t do it in person.
If you are a British citizen, living abroad, in the last 15 years you make an annual declaration to vote.
Monarch and their heirs: nothing to stop them voting but should refrain to remain being seen as working unconstitueintly.
Who is barred from voting?
Peers still entitled to sit in the house of lords
Convicted prisoners or people convicted or corrupt or illegal election practices (for a set period of time)
Foreign nationals
Patients detained under mental health issues after a convicted criminal sentence.
What is the electoral register?
The electoral register is drawn up by the electoral registration officer.
A sensus is taken every October of each house hold but anyone can register to vote at any time.
It is an offence not to register to vote, although many don’t.
What are in the past the post method?
In person
At the designated
polling station which
will be open from 7am
to 10pm
By proxy
You apply to the
returning officer and
say you do not wish to
vote in person*
By post
Nominate somebody to
vote on your behalf.
you have to apply to
the returning officer.
Usually done if the
elector is overseas
Who can stand for election, as long as they are not disqualified on the grounds of…
Any citizen of the British, Irish Republic or common wealth country resident in Britain can stand to be an MP. As long as they are over 18 on nomination day and are not disqualified on the counts of-
being a police officer
someone serving more than one years inprisonment
-a civil servant or judge
-corrupt or illegal practices in general elections.
What about prison in regards to general elections?
Convicted prisoners can not vote in general elections, they can stand provided they are serving 12 months or less.
What is past the post system?
The past the post system is the system used to elect MPS and councillors.
The UK is divided into constituents and the local authorities are divided into wards.
Each voter puts an X next to the name of the councillor/mp they would like to vote for.
Votes are counted up and whoever has the most votes will become the MP of their constituent or the councillor of their ward.
What other voting systems are there?
Alternative voting method- used to elect many Commons committee chairs, the Lord Speaker and by-elections for hereditary peers. Voters rank candidates in order of preference – can rank as many or as few as they like.
First preference votes counted – if a candidate gets more than 50% they win, otherwise candidate with fewest first preference eliminated, their second preference votes are reallocated. Process continues until someone has over 50%
Supplementary vote- used for mayoral elections in England and Wales and for police and crime commissioners.
Like the AV system – voters limited to first and second choice. If a candidate has more than 50% they win, otherwise all candidates bar the two with the most votes. The second preference of the eliminated candidates are counted and any made for the remaining two are transferred – the candidate with the most votes wins.
Additional member system – used by the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales, the London Assembly.
Voters given two votes on separate ballot papers. One vote is for a constituency member the other is for a party list.
Constituency votes counted and members are elected using FPTP. Additional members elected by counting party list votes in each region. Number elected from the list is based on the percentage of votes cast and takes into account the number of constituency members already elected.
What is the additional members system?
The additional members system is the system used for Scottish parliament. Voters are asked to put on one piece of paper their chosen candidate and on another piece of paper their chosen party.
How are councils are elected?
Councillors are elected for a four year term and council elections normally happen on the first Thursday in May.
Some elect all their councils at once whereas some do a half or a third at each election.
What are the restri
