PART 1

ELECTIONS

Voting systems for elections to principal councils

Key definitions
6
1
A “simple majority system” means an electoral system where—
a
each voter may cast as many votes as there are offices to be filled;
b
in the case of an election for a single office, the candidate who receives the highest number of votes is elected;
c
in the case of an election to fill more than one office, the candidates equal to the number of offices to be filled who receive the highest number of votes are elected.
2
A “single transferable vote system” means an electoral system where—
a
in the case of an election to fill more than one office—
i
voters express a first preference for one candidate and may express second and further preferences for other candidates;
ii
a quota for election is calculated from the number of votes and offices to be filled;
iii
the first preferences are counted and any candidate whose first preference votes equal or exceed the quota is elected;
iv
if insufficient candidates are elected under sub-paragraph (iii), the proportion of an elected candidate’s votes above the quota is redistributed according to voters’ further preferences;
v
candidates who then reach the quota are elected and the candidate with the fewest votes is excluded;
vi
the excluded candidate’s votes are redistributed according to voters’ further preferences;
vii
if insufficient candidates are elected under sub-paragraphs (iv) to (vi), the steps described in those sub-paragraphs are repeated until all offices are filled;
b
in the case of an election for a single office—
i
voters express a first preference for one candidate and may express second and further preferences for other candidates;
ii
an absolute majority of votes for election is calculated from the number of votes;
iii
the first preferences are counted and, if a candidate’s first preference votes equal or exceed the absolute majority of votes, that candidate is elected;
iv
if no candidate is elected under sub-paragraph (iii), the candidate with the fewest votes is excluded, the excluded candidate’s votes are redistributed according to voters’ further preferences and a candidate who then reaches the absolute majority is elected;
v
if no candidate is elected under sub-paragraph (iv), the steps described in sub-paragraph (iv) are repeated until a candidate is elected.
3
The systems described in subsections (1) and (2) may include other provision for situations where—
a
following the steps described does not lead to a candidate being elected, or
b
it would not be appropriate to follow the steps described.
4
This section applies for the purposes of this Part.