Possible changes to the voting system for electing County Councillors
Purpose of the consultation
If Cyngor Gwynedd wants to move to a Single Transferable Vote System for the next Council Election in 2027, a decision must be made before 15 November 2024.
The Full Council made a final decision at a special meeting in October 2024.
Before deciding to keep the current system (Simple Majority System) or switch to a new system (Single Transferable Vote), we consulted with the electorate of Gwynedd to see what they think.
The Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 (Section 5), gives councils the right to choose between two voting systems:
Simple Majority System (first past the post), which is the current system, OR
Single Transferable Vote System (proportional representation)
Both systems are explained below:
Simple Majority System
An elector chooses one candidate (or more in some Wards) from the ballot paper by putting a cross in the box.
One candidate (or more in some Wards) is elected Councillor for the Ward.
The candidate who receives the most votes is elected.
This is the system currently used for Cyngor Gwynedd elections.
Single Transferable Vote System
Voters rank candidates on the ballot paper in order of preference, using numbers – their favourite as number 1, their second favourite as number 2 and so on. A voter can number all candidates on the ballot paper, just a few or only one.
This system operates on a larger Ward basis with between 3 and 6 Councillors representing each Ward.
Candidates are elected by reaching a certain quota of votes which is determined by dividing the total number of votes cast in the Ward with the number of seats available.
Candidates who reach or pass the quota will be elected. If there are seats left, surplus votes from the successful candidates and the votes of those candidates at the bottom of the results list are re-distributed to other candidates (using the elector's order of preference), until all seats are filled.
