Guidance

First Past the Post and Alternative Vote explained

This note describes the operation of the First Past The Post and Alternative Vote systems.

Documents

Explanation of the First Past the Post and Alternative Vote systems.

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Details

In elections to the House of Commons, an individual is elected from a Parliamentary constituency to serve as the Member of Parliament. This can be done either by the current voting system known as First Past The Post (FPTP), or by the Alternative Vote (AV) system. This note describes the operation of the two systems.

Published 6 September 2010