AV - What are we being asked to decide on? A simple guide to the Alternative Vote and first past the post systems

On May 5, you will be able to say whether you think the UK should change the way it select its MPs.

You will be asked whether you want the country to stick with the first past the post system or to change to the alternative vote (AV).

Under first past the post, people vote for one candidate and the one who gets the most votes wins, regardless of what proportion of the votes they received.

Under AV, voters rank the candidates in order of preference.

Instead of a single cross, voters use numbers on their ballot paper to rank candidates in order of preference.

A voter's preferred candidate would be marked as number one, the second as two and so on.

Voters can rank as many or as few candidates as they wish.

To win, a candidate must get at least 50 per cent of the votes cast.

The first preference votes for all candidates are counted up. If one candidate has won more than half of the first-preference votes, they are elected.

However, if nobody gets more than half the votes, the candidate with the fewest first preference votes is eliminated.

The second preferences of the people who voted for the eliminated candidate are then counted.

This process continues with third and fourth preferences, and so on, until one candidate has more than 50 per cent.

Voters are being asked to choose because, as part of negotiations which led to the forming of the coalition Government, there was an agreement to hold a binding referendum on how we vote.

The Liberal Democrats want the country to change to AV and their position is backed by parts of the Labour Party.

The Conservatives and other parts of the Labour Party are in favour of keeping the current system.

Pro-AV campaigners say that under the current system MPs can be elected with about 30 per cent of the vote.

In these cases, they argue, this means a candidate has won despite being chosen by a minority of voters, and that the majority of votes cast did not count.

Supporters of first past the post say it is simple and fair, is well tried and tested, gives everyone one vote and delivers a clear outcome.

They say AV is a complicated and unfair system that gives some people more votes than others, and maintain the winner of an election should be the person who comes first in a single round of voting.

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