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The Electoral System - Coggle Diagram
The Electoral System
Public Bodies
Constituencies
- The UK is divided for electoral purposes into 650 constituencies or voting areas. Each constituency is represented by just 1 member, who secured a majority of votes in a general election or by-election
Elections
General elections
- S7 of the Septennial Act 1715 as amended by the Parliament Act 1911 provides that a Parliament shall 'have continuance for 5 years, and no longer...'
- The Prime Minister used to control the timing of general elections. Initially the dissolution of Parliament lay within the prerogative of the Crown, governed by the Fixed-term Parliament's Act 2011. Now by the Dissolution and Calling of the Parliament Act 2022
- Prime Ministers also have latitude over the amount of notice that is given before the election is held
By-elections
- They take place following the death/retirement of a Member of Parliament
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Electoral Commission
- The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 established an Electoral Commission, comprising no less than 5 but no more than 9 Electoral Commissioners appointed by Her Majesty
- Commission's functions include: preparing + publishing reports relating to parliamentary general elections and elections to the European Parliament when UK was part of the EU, Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and NI Assembly.
- Commission must keep under review matters relating to elections and referendums including redistribution of seats at parliamentary elections, registration of political parties and regulation of their income + spending and political advertising
- Must also provide advice + assistance relating to elections. Commission is under duty of promoting public awareness on electoral and democratic systems
R (Electoral Commission) v Westminster Magistrate Court (2010):
- Facts: A political party received a donation from an overseas donor in breach of S58 of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. The Commission (the regulator) sought a forfeiture order seeking a forfeit on donations that resulted in full amount of donations made by the donor.
- Issue was whether the interpretation of the word 'may' in S58(2) - did the word suggest an 'all or nothing' discretion where magistrates can only impose a forfeiture order for full amount of donations or nothing at all, or at a lesser sum.
- Held: by examining the purpose of the statute held that it was open to the magistrates to issue a forfeiture order for amount lower than the full sum of the donation.
Qualifications to vote
You can vote if you are:
To vote at the UK general election you must be registered to vote and:
- 18 years of age or over on polling day
- Be a British, Irish or qualifying Commonwealth citizen
- A resident at an address in the UK (or a UK citizen living abroad who is registered to vote in the UK)
- Not be legally excluded for voting
- In England, Scotland and Wales can register to vote online
- In NI, visit the register to vote in NI at the registration form
- If you are a UK citizen living abroad, you can apply to be an overseas voter
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The Elections Act 2022
- The use of voter ID at polling stations (Schedule 1)
- Simplification + clarification on offence of undue influence (S8) e.g. threats of physical violence, damage/destruction to property, financial loss etc
- Accessibility for the disabled (S9) - greater support through devices
- Removal of 15-year limit on voting rights for overseas voters (S14) - use the last registered/resident address even if beyond 15 years
- New electoral sanction on intimidation (S30) - 5 year disqualification
- Simple majority system for certain elections (S13) (Mayor of London; Police Commissioners; Local Authorities)
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Basics
What it is
- In a democratic state, the electoral process determines who will hold political office.
- It is the electorate that confers power to govern and calls government to account. If the electorate is to enjoy true equality in constitutional participation, there must be these 4 principles:
- There is a full franchise (the right to vote) - subjected to limited restrictions
- The value of each vote cast is equal to every other vote
- The conduct of election campaigns is regulated to ensure legality and fairness
- The voting system is able to create a legislative body representative of the electorate and a government with enough democratic support to be able to govern effectively
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Mixed system
Additional Member system
- Aims to combine advantages of the single members constituency with overall proportionality between votes and seats. This system is used in Germany
- If under AMS, 3/4 of the UK's Members of Parliament (487 seats) will be elected in single member constituencies, using the first past the post system
- The remaining quarter will be additional members elected from party lists on a regional party basis based on the largest average of votes cast between parties
- Additional members then top up the total for each party to give overall proportionality
- Under AMS each voter will thus have 2 votes: 1 for candidate of his choice in the constituency, 1 for the party of his choice on a regional basis
- This system results in reduction of number of constituency members of Parliament to accommodate regionally elected members
Defect of this system:
- AMS confers wide powers on political parties who will control who is to be included on the regional list and it what order is priority
- Due to this Hansard Society Commission on Electoral Reform, concluded that AMS won't suit England.
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