 |  | | ElectionsA new way of voting
Elections to the Scottish Parliament use a new method of electing our representatives. The new system is called the additional member system (AMS), which combines the traditional system of elections in the UK called first past the post (FPTP) with proportional representation. In the election everyone who is eligible to vote has two votes.
A new system
For many years people had argued that the way in which Members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons were elected was unfair. It was decided that a new way of electing the MSPs would be introduced to make it fairer and to bring the number of seats won by each party more in proportion to the number of votes gained.
Two votes, Two ballot papers
In total the people of Scotland elect 129 MSPs via two ballots. The first ballot paper, which is printed on purple paper, is to elect an MSP to represent the people in a constituency. In total there are 73 constituency MSPS. The second ballot paper, which is printed on peach paper, is to elect a political party to represent the people in a region. The colours of the ballot papers may change from one election to another. There are eight regions - West of Scotland, Glasgow, Central Scotland, Lothian's, Highlands and Islands, North East Scotland, Mid Scotland and Fife and South of Scotland. Each region has seven list MSPs to represent it and in total there are 56 regional or list MSPS.
73 constituency MSPs + 56 regional/list MSPS = 129 MSPs
First Vote
The first vote is for a constituency representative. Scotland is divided into 73 constituencies, or electoral areas. In each constituency candidates from different political parties put themselves forward for election. Voters select their preferred candidate in that constituency. The candidate with the most votes wins and becomes a constituency MSP -this method is known as first past the post.
Second Vote
Scotland is divided into 8 regions, or electoral areas. Each region has 7 regional MSPs to represent it, sometimes called list MSPs.
Each party has a list of prospective candidates. Based on the number of votes each party receives, the seats which each party are entitled to are then filled by the candidates in the order in which they appear on the list of names prepared by the party. |
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