How MLAs are elected and what they do

Please note, we're showing you information for Northern Ireland only.

Your representatives in the Northern Ireland Assembly

The people who represent you in the Northern Ireland Assembly are called Members of the Legislative Assembly, or MLAs for short.

You usually elect your MLAs every five years. There are 90 MLAs and you are represented by five of them.

You can contact any of the MLAs who represent you to ask questions about issues that are important to you. You can speak over the phone, by email, or face to face when they hold an open meeting in your area.

Find the contact details and information about visiting Northern Ireland Assembly's building in Stormont.

You can also watch debates and meetings live or on catch-up.

How MLAs are elected

Learn about the single transferable vote voting system and how it is used to elect members of the Northern Ireland Assembly and local councillors in Northern Ireland.

Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) are elected using a system called Single Transferable Vote.

On your ballot paper, you’ll see a list of names and political parties. These are your candidates.

Use numbers to rank your choices in order of preference. 
Put a ‘1’ in the box next to your first preference candidate, a ‘2’ next to your second preference, a ‘3’ next to your third preference and so on. You can do this for all the people you want to vote for. You do not have to put a number next to every name if you don’t want to.

In the first stage, the first preference votes are counted and a quota is calculated. The quota is the minimum number of votes a candidate must win to be elected. Any candidate with a number of first preference votes equal to or higher than the quota is elected straight away.

If there are still empty spots for representatives, the excess votes from those elected are moved to second preference candidates. If there are still seats unfilled because not enough candidates have reached the quota, candidates with the lowest number of votes are knocked out of the running and their votes are transferred to second preference candidates.

The process continues until all seats are filled.

So, if your first preference candidate does not get elected or if they are elected with a large majority, your vote can still be used to help elect your second preference candidate. Your vote may be transferred a number of times as seats are filled and may play a part in electing several or even all of the candidates.

Remember to check and follow the instructions on your ballot paper.

What do MLAs do

Your MLA might:

  • debate and make laws which affect Northern Ireland
  • sit on committees to look at issues in more detail  
  • hold a regular open meeting with people in their area to discuss the problems in your area
  • respond to a problem in your area by asking the responsible politician, known as a minister, an official question