Throughout the world there are numerous types of political systems that are used to determine the leadership within the government of a nation. Not all nations are alike in the ways that the winner is ultimately decided. The reasons for holding elections are simple. In a society, people have differences of opinion. Within countries there are millions, if not hundreds of millions of people who hold opinions of their own. In order to fairly elect leaders and vote on decisions it is necessary to have organized voting systems. In this paper the focus will be on democratic nations that allow its citizens to vote and participate in government. Many nations go about elections differently. The ways in which each nation has decided on the type of ballot
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In addition to elections for government positions, ballots are used to vote for awards and even winners of TV singing competitions. The usage of elections is wide spread and an integral part of our society. This is a topic that presents an important discussion to better understand what type of voting systems are used, where they are used and why they are used.
One of the most commonly used ballot systems in the world is the plurality voting system also called “first past the post”. In the plurality system, the candidate with the majority of the votes is the winner of the election. This system is widely used in countries like The United States, Canada, France, United Kingdom, and India amongst many others. In the United States, this system is seen in national elections. Voters will head to the voting centers to cast their votes during Election Day. At the voting station the voters will be presented a ballot that contains a list of candidates. Voters then are able to select one candidate who they wish to vote for. After the voting period ends the votes are tallied and counted. The candidate that receives a simple majority is declared the winner. This system is extremely simple and offers voters a straightforward approach to picking the candidate that …show more content…
This type of ballot system is more often seen in competitions such as figure skating, gymnastics and TV shows that have a group of participants that the public votes on. While this type of voting system satisfies many of the criterions for fair voting, it has several weaknesses. Its biggest is weakness comes when a voter places its vote on a candidate that is not preferred greatly amongst the other voters. The result of numerous voters doing this can cause a lesser-preferred candidate to win the election. Currently there are no known countries that use this particular voting method and there are no known United States politicians that advocate for its
In addition to elections for government positions, ballots are used to vote for awards and even winners of TV singing competitions. The usage of elections is wide spread and an integral part of our society. This is a topic that presents an important discussion to better understand what type of voting systems are used, where they are used and why they are used.
One of the most commonly used ballot systems in the world is the plurality voting system also called “first past the post”. In the plurality system, the candidate with the majority of the votes is the winner of the election. This system is widely used in countries like The United States, Canada, France, United Kingdom, and India amongst many others. In the United States, this system is seen in national elections. Voters will head to the voting centers to cast their votes during Election Day. At the voting station the voters will be presented a ballot that contains a list of candidates. Voters then are able to select one candidate who they wish to vote for. After the voting period ends the votes are tallied and counted. The candidate that receives a simple majority is declared the winner. This system is extremely simple and offers voters a straightforward approach to picking the candidate that …show more content…
This type of ballot system is more often seen in competitions such as figure skating, gymnastics and TV shows that have a group of participants that the public votes on. While this type of voting system satisfies many of the criterions for fair voting, it has several weaknesses. Its biggest is weakness comes when a voter places its vote on a candidate that is not preferred greatly amongst the other voters. The result of numerous voters doing this can cause a lesser-preferred candidate to win the election. Currently there are no known countries that use this particular voting method and there are no known United States politicians that advocate for its