ELECTIONS

Part I: Elections in Britain

A. Basic information.

Work in pairs. Before you read the text below discuss what you know about the elections in Britain. Pool all the vocabulary connected with elections. Write down 5 questions about the electoral system of Britain that you would like to know the answers to. Now read the text and see if you can find the answers to your ques­tions.

Text A.

Elections to the House of Commons, known as parliamentary (or general) elections, form the basis of Britain's democratic system. Britain is divided into 650 areas, called constituencies. Each constituency is a one-member constituency, as it is rep­resented by one Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons. The leader of the party which has the most MPs in Parliament becomes the Prime Minister.

General elections take place at least every five years. In practice, elections are held before the end of the five-year term. In exceptional circumstances, such as during the two world wars, the life of a Parliament has been extended beyond the five-year term.

The decision on when to hold a general election is made by the Prime Minis­ter. The procedure involves the Queen, acting on the Prime Minister's advice, dis­solving Parliament and calling a new Parliament. The Prime Minister usually an­nounces the dissolution and calls the general election. Voting takes place within 17 days of the dissolution, not including Saturday and Sundays and public holidays: therefore, election campaigns last for three to four weeks.

All British citizens may vote provided they are aged 18 years or over and are not legally barred from voting. All voters must be registered as resident in a constituency on a specified date. Voting in elections is voluntary. On average about 75 per cent of the electorate votes. People who are not allowed to vote include:

• peers, and peeresses in their own right, who are members of the House of Lords

• foreign nationals

• people kept in mental hospital

• people serving prison sentences; and

• people convicted within the previous five years of corrupt or illegal election practices.

Anybody over 21 can stand for election providing they are not disqualified. Those disqualified include:

people who are bankrupt

• people sentenced to more than one year's imprisonment

• clergy of the Church of England, Church of Scotland, Church of Ireland and the Roman Catholic Church

• members of the House of Lords; and

• a range of public servants and officials, specified by law. They include judges, civil servants, some local government officers, full-time members of the armed forces and police officers.

Candidates do not have to live in the constituencies for which they stand. Most candidates in elections and almost all winning candidates belong to one of the main political parties. Candidates who are members of smaller political parties or groups, or who do not belong to any party, may also stand. Since the second world war the great majority of MPs have belonged to either the Conservative or the Labour party. There is also an influential centre party called the Liberal Democrats, and another much smaller centre party known as the Social Democratic Party (SDP). There are also nationalist parties from Scotland, Northern Ireland and .Wales.

Polling Day

Polling for parliamentary elections takes place on Thursdays. The hours of voting are 7.00 to 22.00, no break is allowed. Each voter goes to a polling station in his/her constituency. Voters have their names checked against the election register before they are given ballot papers. The paper lists the names of candidates in al­phabetical order, with a brief description of the candidates or their political parties. Voting takes place in booths, which are screened to maintain secrecy. Voters mark their ballot papers with a cross in the box opposite the name of the candidate of their choice and then fold the paper to conceal the vote, before placing it in the ballot box. Voters who spoil their ballot papers by mistake can vote using a fresh ballot paper once the first ballot paper is cancelled.

After the end of polling the ballot boxes are sealed to prevent further votes from being added. The votes must be counted as soon as possible after the end of polling. The candidates and their agents have the right to be present. The number of papers in the box is counted and checked against the ballot paper account. After this, papers are sorted according to the candidates for whom they are marked. Doubtful papers are put aside and the returning officer decides whether they are valid. If the result is close, candidates or their agents may seek a recount; the deci­sion is made by the returning officer. If the number of votes is equal, the winner is decided by drawing lots.

Let us imagine that the result was as follows:

Adams Con 25,000

Johnson SDP 7,000

Maxwell Lab 19,000

Thomas Lib Dem 11,000

The winner is Adams, even though the total of the votes for the other candidates was greater. Adams, then, will represent the constituency in the House of Com­mons. If this type of result is repeated in other constituencies, the make-up of the House of Commons will not necessarily accurately reflect the way that people voted across the country. This voting system is commonly called the first-past-the-post system. It favours a two-party system, particularly when the parties' support is concentrated geographically, as is the case with the Conservative and Labour parties. It doesn't favour parties whose support is spread across constituencies, such as the Liberal Democrats, as they tend to accumulate relatively small numbers of votes in each constituency and consequently do not win many seats.

Tasks:

1. Describe how the first-past-the-post system works.

1. Speak about the polling day.

2. What is a one-member constituency?

3. What is the difference between the House of Lords and the House of Commons as regards the elections?

4. What are the main political parties in Britain?

5. Do you consider it a sound practice that

• the voting age in Britain is 18

• voting in elections is voluntary

• members of the House of Lords are not allowed to vote or stand for election

• people can stand for election at the age of 21

• members of the clergy, the armed forces and police officers are nor allowed to stand for election

• the candidates and their agents have the right to be present at the count.

7. What other qualifications do you know that can prevent people from voting? What do you think about them? What is qualified majority voting? Use a diction­ary to help you.

8. The text says that 'on average about 75 per cent of the electorate votes' in Brit­ain. Is it the same in your country? What does it depend on? How could you paraphrase this quotation using the words turnout or poll. (A dictionary may be helpful here).

9. Comment on the meaning of the following quotation from a newspaper: 'Look at the parliamentary map of Britain and there is a solitary red blob in the middle of the South Coast'. What other 'political colours' do you know?

B. Further information

Choose one of the following small texts and study it (make sure you under­stand the gist, copy out all the words and expressions concerning elections and look those you don't know in the dictionary). Be ready to speak about the text to one of your fellow-students.

1. Registering voters

An electoral register for each constituency is prepared annually by electoral registration officers — usually senior local government officers. Registration offi­cers arrange either to send forms to, or for their representatives to call on, every household in the constituency. Householders must give details of all occupants who are eligible to vote; failure to do so may lead to the individuals concerned being fined. This information is used to compile provisional electoral lists, which are dis­played in public places in order to give individuals the opportunity to check that their names are included or to object to inclusions. People who disagree with the fi­nal decision of the registration officer may appeal to the courts.

2. Postal and proxy voting

Voters who are likely to be away from home at the time of an election — for example, on holiday or business — or who are unable to vote in person at the poll­ing station, may apply for a postal or a proxy vote. The latter is a vote cast by a person authorized to vote on behalf of another. Postal ballot papers can be sent only to addresses in Britain. Votes must reach the returning officer by the close of poll. The returned envelopes must contain declarations of identity and sealed ballot pa­per when the postal votes are sent and received. Before the votes are counted postal ballot papers are mixed with ordinary ballot papers.

3. Nomination

Candidates must be nominated on official nomination papers giving their full name and home address. A political or personal description of up to six words may be included. The nomination paper must be signed by ten electors, including a pro­poser and a seconder. At the same time a sum of 500 pounds must be deposited on behalf of each candidate: candidates who receive less than 5 per cent of the votes cast in the subsequent election lose this deposit. Candidates from the main parties very rarely lose their deposits.

Candidates normally belong to one of the main political parties. However, smaller political parties and groups also put forward candidates, and individuals without party support also stand.

4. Election agents

Each parliamentary candidate must appoint an election agent, and by the end of the period for the nomination of candidates the name and address of the agent must be given to the returning officer. Agents are responsible for running the cam­paign and, in particular, for controlling expenses in line with the legal restrictions on election campaign expenditure. Some agents are full-time salaried officials who act as party organisers in one or more constituencies. They are normally paid by lo­cal constituency parties. Many more agents work on a part-time or voluntary basis.

5. Canvassing

Canvassing involves local party workers visiting the homes of voters and ask­ing them whether they intend to vote for their party's candidate. During the cam­paign canvassing can provide candidates and their helpers with an indication of people's voting intentions and their attitude to particular issues. This enables them to adapt their campaign tactics. During polling day party workers can revisit the homes of those people who have promised to support their party and, if they have so far failed to vote, urge them to do so. In practice few constituency parties con­duct comprehensive canvasses, as these would involve visits to the many thousands of homes in each constituency.