Electoral Systems and Representation Concepts

All candidates are listed in the same place on the ballot. Instead of voting for one person, voters rank each candidate in their order of choice. You can rank as few or as many as you want.

• SINGLE TRANSFERABLE VOTE

• FIRST PAST THE POST

• RANKED CHOICE VOTING

• PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

Is the number of representatives elected from a given ----- to the same legislative body? Note: The larger the ---- – generally – the greater degree of proportionality.

• District Magnitude

• Population Density

• Electoral Threshold

• Voting Age Population

Winner takes all system: These systems all require the winning candidate to garner either a ---- or a ---- of the votes.

• Plurality or Majority

• Simple or Absolute

• First-past-the-post or Ranked-choice

• Single or Double

Requires a runoff election between the two top candidates if no candidate wins a majority of the votes in the general election.

• TWO-ROUND RUNOFF VOTING

• SINGLE-ROUND VOTING

• PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

• FIRST-PAST-THE-POST VOTING

The electoral ------ is the minimum share of votes required in order to obtain representation in parliament. Votes for a party which did not pass the electoral----- are not counted.

• Threshold

• Quota

• Limit

• Minimum

The spatial size in a political unit; the land represented by a seat(s)

• District Size

• Population Density

• Geographic Area

• Electoral Division

All candidates are listed on the ballot. But instead of voting for only one candidate, voters rank the candidates in the order of their preference.

• INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING/ALTERNATIVE VOTE (IRV)

• FIRST-PAST-THE-POST VOTING

• PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

• BLOCK VOTING

Legislators are elected in large, multi-member districts. Each party puts up a list or slate of candidates equal to the number of seats in the district. On the ballot, voters indicate their preference for a particular party and the parties then receive seats in proportion to their share of the vote. What is this voting system called?

• Single Transferable Vote

• First-Past-The-Post

• Party List Voting System

• Majoritarian Voting

All PR systems divide up the seats in these multi-member districts according to the proportion of votes received by the various parties or groups running candidates.

• PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

• MAJORITY VOTING

• FIRST-PAST-THE-POST

• RANKED CHOICE VOTING

Most votes win: all the candidates appear on the ballot and the voters indicate their choice of one of them--by marking an X, pulling a voting lever, etc. All the votes are counted and the winner is the one with the most votes. Winners need not collect a majority of the votes, only more votes than their opponents do--a plurality of the votes. What is this voting system called?

• SINGLE-MEMBER DISTRICT

• MAJORITY VOTING

• RANKED CHOICE VOTING

• PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION