Voting systems

• First Past the Post - candidates from various parties stand in one district and whichever candidate wins a plurality of votes wins that seat outright.
• Single Transferrable Vote - The number of stages is related to the number of candidates who are on the ballot paper and will continue stage by stage until there are two candidates left and the one with the most votes transferred is elected.
• Additional Member System - each voter usually casts two votes: a vote for a candidate standing in their local constituency + a vote for a party list standing in a wider region made up of multiple constituencies.
• Alternative Vote - If no-one gets 50%+ then the bottom candidate is removed + their preferences re-distributed; this continues until here is a winner.
• Supplementary Vote - Voters have to pick their top 2 candidates; if someone gets 50%+ they win. If not the top 2 are left + the other preferences are redistributed to, in theory, give an outright majority to one of them.
• Northern Irish Assembly - uses a proportional representation - STV (Single Transferrable Vote) requires a certain minimum number of votes to be elected.
• Welsh Assembly - use FPTP system
• Scottish Parliament - use single transferrable vote