Unit 4 elections

4. Before reading the text, match a word on the left with a definition on the right.

1. election a) voting

2. polling b) the right to represent people as a Member of

Parliament

3. certified lunatics c) the person in charge of the election in that

area

4. by-election d) paper on which you indicate your choice in a

secret vote

5. seat e) the process of choosing candidates for an

office by vote

6. Returning Officer f) people formally declared insane by a doctor

7. ballot paper g) an election in the whole of a country to elect

a new Parliament

8. electorate h) an election in one or more constituencies

during the life of a Parliament

9. general election i) the group of all people who have the right to

vote in an election

10. vote j) to express an opinion or will for or against

something or somebody by ballot

4.1. Test your general knowledge in the quiz below.

1. The Boundary Commissions

1. decide the exact boundaries of constituencies

2. draw their support from different sections of the electorate

3. make recommendations about constituency boundaries which people do not always agree with

4. make recommendations which favour the Conservative Party

2. Party candidates

1. are chosen by votes

2. are chosen differently in each party

3. reflect voters’ wishes in the Commons

4. must be reselected if they want to be candidates in more than one General Election

3. Expenditure during an election campaign

1. officially includes national propaganda

2. encourages corruption

3. does not include election expenses

4. is strictly limited by law

4. The money needed by political parties in Britain comes from

1. different sources

2. national propaganda

3. industry

4. the trade unions

5. In Britain

1. to be elected, a candidate must have more than a small percentage of total votes in a constituency

2. it is always a disadvantage for a party to have unevenly distributed support in the country

3. the Social Democratic and Liberal Alliance became the second party in 1983

4. it is possible for a party to obtain a large percentage of total votes, but only a small percentage of seats in the House of Commons

6. Many British people are in favour of changing the electoral system because they want

1. a system which would give a single party an overall majority in the Commons

2. to elect the Alliance

3. a system in which the number of seats a party obtains corresponds to the number of votes they win

4. to elect second-choice candidates

4.2.Now read the text and see if you were right.

The election procedure

The system whereby a political party comes to rule the country is the result of centuries of development. The country is divided into 651 constituencies and each constituency elects one member of the House of Commons. Everyone over 18 has the right to vote, except criminals and certified lunatics. Members of the House of Lords are not allowed to vote either. Voting is not compulsory. Any British subject aged 21 or over, not otherwise disqualified (as for example, members of the House of Lords, certain clergy, undischarged bankrupts, civil servants, holders of judicial office, members of the regular armed services and the police forces) may be elected a Member of Parliament (M.P.).

There are two types of parliamentary election: a general election and a by-election. A general election may be called by the Government at any time but must be within five years of the previous one. Voting takes place in all 651 constituencies on one day. The constituency boundaries are drawn on the recommendations of the impartial Boundary Commissions which are sometimes highly controversial because they can profoundly affect the electoral prospects of a particular party. However, the party electoral prospects depend not only on the delimitation of boundaries, but also on the choice of the party candidates, that is why each party has its own method for choosing candidates. A by-election is held when a Member of Parliament dies, retires, resigns, is elevated to the House of Lords or accepts an «office of profit» under the Crown between general elections. Voting then only occurs in the constituency without a member.

The maximum legal life for a Parliament is five years. A general election is held either when the limit for the duration of Parliament has been reached, or when the Queen, on the advice of the Prime Minister, dissolves Parliament. The Prime Minister is bound to do this if his Ministry is defeated on an important issue by the vote of the House of Commons.

When it is decided to hold a general election, the old Parliament is dissolved and 20 clear days must elapse before the new Parliament meets. A notice, or writ, has to be sent to each constituency, where the Returning Officer makes provisions for the holding of the election. Approximately three weeks before the day of the election, people in each area receive brochures from each political party, giving details of their policies. People also receive an official polling card to stop people from voting more than once. On the election day, the voters go to the polling stations and tell the clerks their names and addresses. This is checked against the electoral register, and the voter is given a ballot paper containing a list of all the candidates in that area. The voter marks the paper in private. The vote is valid if it is marked with a cross in the right place and only one candidate is indicated. The paper then goes into a sealed ballot box. When the polling station is closed, all the boxes are taken to one central point, usually a town-hall, and opened. This happens in all 651 constituencies. After all the votes have been counted in each constituency, the Returning Officer announces the result.

According to this system, the candidate who gets most votes in a particular constituency wins the seat in Parliament. It does not matter whether the winning candidate gets 20% or 70% of the total votes, provided he gets at least one more vote than each of the other candidates. The party that wins the greatest number of seats in Parliament takes power.

There are very few parliamentary democracies with this method of choosing a winner. Critics say it is unfair, because the proportion of seats which a party holds does not reflect the proportion of votes which that party received in the nation as a whole. To counteract this, the Liberal Democrats want to introduce a new system called Proportional Representation. In this system, the number of MPs representing each party is in proportion to the number of votes that the party received in the whole country. The existing system benefits the leading parties and discriminates against the smaller parties. Some argue that this keeps radical parties at bay.

4.3. Answer the following questions.

1. Who has the right to vote in the United Kingdom? Is voting compulsory?

2. Who is not allowed to vote?

3. How do you understand the difference between a general election and a by-election?

4. When is a general election held?

5. Can you name the duties of the Returning Officer?

6. How does the Proportional Representation system differ from the existing one in the United Kingdom?

7. Which system do you think is fairer? Why?

8. Can a judge become a Member of Parliament?

4. Choose a suitable word from the list below and complete the sentences.