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Councils can decide to use the First Past the Post system or the Single Transferable Vote system to elect their councillors.

First Past the Post

Learn about the first past the post voting system and how it is used to elect members of the UK Parliament and local councillors in most areas of Wales.

Most councils in Wales currently use First Past the Post to elect their councillors.

On your ballot paper, you’ll see a list of names and political parties – these are your candidates. You’ll be asked to mark ‘X’ next to your choice.  
The candidate with the most votes becomes your representative.

Some areas have two or more people representing them but the system works the same. You might be asked to make two or more choices. The candidates with the most votes are the winners.

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

What's First Past the Post anyway?

 

A video by young people at the Democracy Box, our youth voice partner for Wales, 2023.

Visit the Democracy Box’s website.

Single Transferable Vote

Learn about the single transferable vote voting system and how it can be used to elect local councillors in Wales.

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 beside 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 transferred 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.

Learn about the single transferable vote voting system and how it is used to elect local councillors in Scotland.
Learn about the first past the post voting system and how it is used to elect members of the UK Parliament and local councillors in England.

A system called First Past the Post is used to elect local councillors.

On your ballot paper, you’ll see a list of names and political parties. These are your candidates. You’ll be asked to mark ‘X’ next to your choice.

The candidate with the most votes becomes your representative

Some areas have two or more people representing them but the system works the same. You might be asked to make two or more choices. The candidates with the most votes are the winners.

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

Councillors 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 beside 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 transferred 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.

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.

Councillors are elected using a system called Single Transferable Vote.

This is the same system which is used to elect MLAs to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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 beside 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 transferred 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.

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