Elections Flashcards
(27 cards)
4
Who can stand in local elections?
- at least 18 years old
- British citizen/eligible commonwealth citizen
- must be an owner or tenant of land or has worked or lived in the local council area for the last 12 months
- be a registered elector
Who can’t stand in local elections?
- can’t be employed by local authority
- can’t hold a politically restricted post
- can’t be subject of bankruptcy or restrictions order
- can’t have been sentenced to 3months+ or have a suspended sentence in the past five years
- can’t have been disqualified under the representation of the people act 1983
What was the representation of the people act 1983?
a convicted person cannot vote at any parliamentary or local election whilst in prison
Who can stand in a general election to be an MP?
- at least 18 years old
- be a british citizen/citizen of the republic of ireland/eligible commonwealth citizen
- don’t need to be a registered elector
- can’t stand in more than one constituency at the same election
who can’t stand in a general election to be an MP?
- civil servants
- police force
- armed forces
- gov-nominated directors of commercial companies
- judges
- legislature of any country outside of the commonwealth
- peers who sit in/vote in the house of lords
- bishops of the church of england who sit/vote in the house of lords (lords spiritual)
What is the process of parliamentary candidate selection? (4 steps)
- local party advertises (in the party journal)
- respondents must be approved by the national party first, then they are put on lists of candidates
- interviews are overseen by the ‘returning officer’ and then selected groups of local party workers decide shortlist
- candidates are invited to meetings of party members where they answer questions, send leaflets to party members to ask for their vote (through the returning officer)
what is a returning officer
a statuary authority responsible for conducting elections
they oversee the polling, counting process and determine the validity of the ballot papers
mostly ceremonial in the UK, work mostly done by the acting returning officer
What are the two stages of local candidate selection?
- apply, interviewed, placed on approved list
- if the number of candidates contests a seat, local party members will meet and vote
who can vote in local elections (be on electoral register)
- be 16 years old in Scotland and Wales, be 18 in England (by the day of election)
- british citizen/qualifying commonwealth citizen/citizen of country with an agreement with the Uk eg Spain
who can vote in general elections? (be on register)
- aged 18 or over
- british citizen/qualifying commonwealth citizen/citizen of republic of ireland
who cannot vote in general elections (not registered)
- member of house of lords (as a member you can still vote local, devolved, or european elections)
- convicted in prison (if awaiting trial you an still vote)
- found guilty within the last 5 years of corrupt/illegal practices to do with elections
- detained under sections of mental health act 1983
when can you register to vote
england and northern ireland = 16
scotland and wales = 15
what is the debate about voting age
should be lowered to 16 (like scotland and wales have locally)
scottish independence referendum 2014 84.6% of those ages 616-17 voted
what could be done to increase voter turnout
- introduce ‘citizenship’ curriculum
- allow weekend voting
- change polling hours so they’re open more
- allow postal or early voting
- allow online votes or by telephone
- make it compulsory
- more local referendums used
what is voter apathy
the lack of interest, knowledge or eligibility to vote in elections
what is the election system like in the UK/england
first-past-the-post
- Uk is a representative democracy
- approx every 5 years electorate votes and elects new parliament
- 650 MPs in parliament (for each constituency)
- general elections held on thursdays, the PM decided the date as long as it’s within 5 years of the previous election
- if the PM recieves a vote of no confidence, the election must be held
what are proportional systems
- the number of votes is reflected in the number of people elected
what is a non proportional system
eg FPTP
- no link between national vote and number of MPs elected
- elected by gaining the most votes in individual constituency
what is the first past the post system? What happened in 2012?
- non proportional
- the candidate with the most votes wins
- referendum held in 2012 to change this, it was rejected
positives and negatives of FPTP
+ simple to use
+ quick to know outcome
- can be electedwith minority vote
- smaller parties may be under represented
How often are local authority elections in england and wales
- councils call for election every 3 years or use the thirds system where a third of members are newly elected each year
- county councillors elected every 4 years
what is the STV system
single transferrable vote
- NI assembly, NI local councils, S local councils
- proportional
- electors place candidates in number order
- must achieve quota of votes to win
- being above the quota means excess votes are distributed to voters’ lower choices
positives and negatives of the STV system
+ every vote helps to elect someone
+ result closely matches votes cast for each party
- parties elect candidates
- coalition governments are more likely
- it can take time to count the results
what is the SV system
supplementary vote
- the directly elected mayors and police and crime commissioners
- choose 1st and 2nd choice candidate
- the winner must recieve over 50%
- the lowest scoring candidates are removed, second votes are redistributed
