Parallel voting: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Parallel voting describes a mixed voting system where voters in effect participate in two separate elections using different systems, and where the results in one election have little or no impact on the results of the other. If one of the two election counts does have a substantial impact on the result of the other then mixed member proportional voting may be a better description.

The Supplementary Member system (SM) is a parallel voting system that combines first past the post (FPP) with proportional representation.

Procedure

Under SM, a majority of seats in the legislature are filled by FPP, with single member constituencies. The remainder are filled from party lists, with parties needing to have polled 5 per cent of the vote in order to achieve representation, as under the Additional Member System (AMS).

Unlike AMS, however, where party lists are used to achieve an overall proportional result in the legislature, under SM, proportionality is confined only to the list seats. Therefore, a party that secured 5 per cent of the vote will have only 5 per cent of the list seats, and not 5 per cent of all the seats in the legislature.

SM allows smaller parties to secure representation in the legislature without having disproportionate power, as would be the case under an entirely proportional system. A criticism of proportional voting systems, is that the largest parties need to rely on the support of smaller ones in order to form a government. However, smaller parties are still disadvantaged as the larger parties still predominate.

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