Alternative vote

Alternative vote

(Preferential) Majoritarian
1. Winner has to achieve overall majority to gain a seat
How does it work?
1. Voters rank candidates in order of preference
  1. First choice votes counted
    1. If a candidate has gained 50% of the vote, they're elected.
    2. If none of the candidates have gained a majority, the second choice votes are taken into account
      1. The top two candidates retain their first choice votes
        But all other candidates are eliminated and their second choice votes for the two leaders are counted
        The final totals of the two remaining candidates will produce an outright winner
Advantages
1. All MPs would have the support of a majority of their voters
2. Retains same constituencies - no need to redraw boundaries
  1. No observable erosion of the constituency - MP link
3. Penalises extremist parties, as they're unlikely to gain many second choice votes
4. Reduces need for tactical voting
  1. Voters can vote for first choice without fear of wasting their vote
5. Reduces number of "safe seats"
6. Encorages candidates to chase second and third preferences, which lessens the need for negative campaigning
  1. One party doesn't want to alienate supporters of other candidates whose second preferences they want
Disadvantages
1. Not proportional representation
2. Certain electoral conditions (landslides) can produce a more disproportional result than FPTP
3. In close three-way races the "compromise" candidate could be defeated in the first round even though they may be more broadly acceptable to the electorate than the top two candidates
4. Lower preferences can potentially produce a "lowest common denminator" winner without much positive support of their own
5. Donkey Voting - voters vote for vandidates in the order they appear on the ballot
Where is it used?
1. Labour leadership elections
2. Liberal Democrats leadership elections
3. House of Lords by elections

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	Created by Abbie Fisher about 10 years ago