Constituencies:

Each constituency will continue to elect one MP, so it is very similar to the present system and there will be no need to change constituency boundaries*.

Voting - very simple -

1. Instead of voting with an “X”, you will vote for your first choice with a figure “1”.
2. If you wish (although you don’t have to), you can also show who your second and third choices etc are with “2”, “3” and so on. You can show as many choices as you like.

Key advantages:

AV ensures that every MP is elected by at least half the final votes. This gives MPs a mandate that most do not have now; fewer than a third of them had half their constituency votes in May 2010.

Voting by AV will allow you to vote positively for the candidate you really want to support. There will be no need (or point) voting for Smith just to keep Jones out if you really want Black to win. You would vote “1” for Black and “2” for Smith. This eliminates tactical voting and reduces wasted votes.

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*The Government wants to change boundaries to reduce the number of MPs and make constituencies more equal in size but that is a separate matter; it has nothing to do with AV.