Proportional voting systems (PR) ensure that the result of a general election actually reflects the number of votes cast for each candidate. For instance if a political party wins 15% of all votes cast it gains 15% of all seats won - in other words 15% of the power.
PR doesn't work on a single member constituency basis. Instead pure PR would see the whole country as one multi member constituency with no "lost" or "wasted" votes.
Supporters of PR claim that it is more democratic than Majority systems like First Past the Post, and that it offers voter greater choice between parties and between candidates.
The two main systems of PR are Single Transferable Vote (STV) and the List System.
There are interactive exercises on both these systems to complete in this lesson.
When you have completed both research and take notes on other voting systems using the link button on the left.