A parliamentary vote is the process by which motions are proposed, amended, approved or defeated in council. Using parliamentary procedure can make council meetings more efficient and reduce the chance of a motion being challenged as being procedurally incorrect or even illegal. While parliamentary procedure must be used with a light touch, it can protect the rights of persons who do not share the point of view of the majority.
Parliamentary systems are most commonly found in countries that were formerly part of the British Commonwealth and other democracies that have been influenced by that country’s political tradition. In most parliamentary systems, there is a special constitutional court that can declare a law unconstitutional if it violates provisions of the supreme law of the land, the constitution. However, other than this, there is no check on the legislative branch and most parliamentary systems allow for a coalition of parties to control the government. In many cases, this enables minority groups to receive representation and participate in policy-making without being ignored by a dominant party as in a presidential system.
Electors in a parliamentary system are given two votes on their ballot papers – one for a constituency member and the other for the party of choice. Votes for the party are counted first and candidates who do not reach a quota of votes are eliminated. Surplus votes are transferred to second preference candidates and so on until a candidate is elected. If no candidate is elected on the first ballot, a second is held with a different electoral system such as AV (alternative vote).
