Newcastle University

Monday 12th March 2012, 2-4pm

Registration on the day will be open from 1pm with a buffet lunch available

The Scottish local government elections of May 2012 will be the second round of elections to be held under the single transferable vote electoral system. STV is a complex system and poses a number of questions for candidates and parties as they seek election. How should parties campaign under the STV system? How might voters’ potential preference transfers work in practice? And how are votes converted into seats? 

This workshop aims to address these and other questions related to elections under STV. Led by Dr. Alistair Clark, of the School of Geography, Politics & Sociology at Newcastle University, it will discuss detailed research on the council elections of 2007 to ask what lessons might be learned for the campaign and elections of 2012. The workshop will also cover lessons from elections in Ireland, where there is extensive experience of running elections under STV, and will also examine the relationship between the number of votes, preference transfers and the number of seats won.

Speakers:

Dr. Alistair Clark (Newcastle University)

‘Lessons from the 2007 Scottish Local Government Elections Under STV’

Seán Dorgan (General Secretary, Fianna Fáil)

‘Elections under STV: Lessons from Ireland'

Dr. James Gilmour (Electoral Reform Society Scotland)

‘STV: From Votes to Seats’ 

The workshop will be held at:

COSLA Conference Centre, 19 Haymarket Yards,  Edinburgh

Map and directions can be found at:

http://www.cosla.gov.uk/conference-centre/easy-get 

Attendance at this workshop is free, but space is limited, pre-registration is therefore essential

Please click on the link below to register:

Elections under the Single Transferable Vote

or contact Sue Tatah : tel: 0191 222 6340 or email: sue.tatah@ncl.ac.uk