Alternative vote top-up

The Alternative Vote Plus (AV+) or Alternative Vote Top-up is a voting system intended for use in elections to an assembly or legislature. Under AV+ most candidates are elected from single member constituencies under the Alternative Vote system while a small number of candidates are elected under the regional list system. AV+ is not a parallel voting system. Rather, as occurs under the Additional Member System (AMS), under AV+ seats filled from regional lists are so allocated as to off-set the disproportionality created by the single seat constituencies and to achieve a measure of proportional representation.

Related Topics:
Voting system - Alternative Vote - Regional list system - Parallel voting system - Additional Member System - Proportional representation

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AV+ may be considered a variant of AMS. However, unlike most versions of AMS, AV+ is not designed to deliver a high level of proportional representation. Rather, under AV+ the number of candidates elected from regional lists is kept to a relatively small "top up" in order to grant an in-built electoral advantage to larger parties. AV+ also differs from most versions of AMS in that the constituency seats are elected by means of the Alternative Vote rather than the Simple Plurality ('First past the post') system.

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AV+ was invented by the 1998 Jenkins Commission, which recommended it as a system for use in United Kingdom general elections, but no action has yet been taken on that committee's recommendations. The Commission described the system as a "limited" form of AMS aimed at achieving a balance between the requirements of "broad proportionality" and "stable government".

Related Topics:
1998 - Jenkins Commission - United Kingdom general elections

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