The Electoral System

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The Electoral System
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• Introduction
• Candidate Qualifications
• The Franchise
• Distribution of Seats
• Principles of Representation
• Some Election Provisions
• Electoral Formula
• Operation of the System
• Electoral Reform
• Conclusion

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1. Introduction
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Electoral Commission

• Established in November 2000 by Political
  Parties, Elections and Referendum Act
• April 2002 Boundaries Commission becomes a
  statutory committee of the Electoral Commission

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Our six main corporate aims are 1. To promote
and maintain openness and transparency in the
financial affairs of political parties and others
involved with elections. 2. To review the
administration and law of elections and encourage
best practice. 3. To encourage greater
participation in, and increased understanding of,
the democratic process. 4. To ensure that we are
able to undertake the effective conduct of a
referendum. 5. To provide for electoral equality
in each local authority area in England while
also reflecting community identity and
interests. 6. To carry out all our statutory
functions impartially, using resources
efficiently, effectively and economically.
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2 Candidate Qualifications

• Legal Nearly Everyone 21 and Over
• The Values of Party Selectors are the major
  determinants of who gets chosen

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3 The Franchise Milestones of Twentieth Century

• Representation of the People Act, 1918
• The Equal Franchise Act, 1928
• Representation of the People Acts, 1948 1949
• Representation of the People Act, 1969

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4 Distribution of Seats

• From the Representation of Places to the
  Representation of People
• Principle of 1 Vote 1 Value
• National Differences
• Consequences of Devolution

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Electors Seats per nation,2005
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5. Principles of Representation

• The Representation of Places
• The Representation of People
• Representation of Parties

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Conflict Between Representation of-

• Local Constituencies (Places)
• National Constituencies (Political Parties)

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General Elections are not national but local

• They consist of 646 different elections

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6. Some Election Provisions

• Elections maximum of 5 yearly intervals since
  1918
• 3 Week minimum notification (Mostly held on
  Thursdays)
• 500 Deposit (returned if candidate wins 5 of
  the votes)
• From 1970 Party Name of Ballot Paper
• Limits on campaign spending local national
• Allocation of TV Time

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First Past the Post in Single Member
Constituencies
7. Electoral Formula Plurality
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But where is the Post?

• There isnt one !!
• The System is really Furthest Down the
  Course.

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..when the voting stops
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Inverness, Nairn, Lochaber, 1992 General
Election
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8. Operation of the System.Who does FPTP
favour?

• Butter more than margarine
• The parties whose support is geographically
  concentrated
• By and large the bigger parties

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The General Election, 1983
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The General Election, 2005
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Conservative Labour
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Usual Consequences of FPTP

• Single Party Government
• General Elections decide who shall form the
  government
• Close connection between the government and
  electors
• Strong government, weak parliament
• Unfair allocation of seats in the parliament

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9. Electoral Reform

• Report of the Independent Commission on the
  Voting System
• The Jenkins Report
• Cm. 4090-I, October, 1998

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The Current System Virtues

• Known and accepted
• Allows MPs to represent all constituents
• Clear line of policy resulting from single party
  government
• Unpopular government can be thrown out
• Encourages parties to broaden their appeal
• Offers unorthodox MPs a degree of independence

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The Current SystemVices

• Produces landslides with small share of poll
• Grossly under-represents the 3rd party
• Partiality towards concentration of support
• Geographical polarisation of representation
• Difficulty of choosing between a constituency
  representative and party of government

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vices continued

• Narrows electoral terrain to marginal seats
• Safe seats mean most people are unable to
  influence the result
• Currently around 67 of MPs failed to win a
  majority of the votes in their constituency
• Perverse results, 1951 Feb. 1974
• Less likely to represent minorities
• Bias towards Labour

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10. Conclusion