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Donald Dewar urges Scots voters to use their second vote at Holyrood polls
12/10/1998
Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar today warned that the second vote in the Scottish Parliament elections is not a second choice.
The additional member system will be used in Scotland for the first time when the historic elections to Holyrood are contested on May 6.
Reports suggest some members of the public are confused about the second vote - which is used to select additional MSPs from the party lists.
Speaking at a seminar in Edinburgh aimed at encouraging voters to get out and use their vote in the European Elections next year, Mr Dewar highlighted the importance of the second vote for Holyrood.
He told the 'Get the vote out!' seminar:
"The first Scottish Parliament elections on 6 May will be conducted according to the additional member system. Under this system, each voter will have two votes. The first is for a constituency Member. The second determines the political balance of the Parliament. Additional Members will be taken from the party lists and added to the MSPs elected in constituencies on a corrective basis so that, when taken together, the distribution of seats across each region reflects the votes cast in the second ballot. Not the first. Not both combined.
"When all the results from all the regions are in the end product will be a Parliament whose composition better matches the strength of support for each party across the country. Think about what that means. The first ballot gets you a Member of Parliament. The second gets you a Government. That is an important difference.
"I want to make sure that every individual understands the impact of the votes he or she casts. Do I think it matters? Yes, I do. I make no apology for it. Indeed, every Party leader, every newspaper leader writer, every broadcaster, every citizen of Scotland should think it matters too.
"In fact, the second ballot is not a second choice. It is the basis of the corrective mechanism to bring the percentage of seats gained in the Parliament into line with the percentage of votes cast for a party. Put brutally, it is the second vote that matters. And every vote counts.
"In September of last year, Scots voted decisively in the referendum for a Parliament. They are getting the Parliament they wanted. Next May, they will vote for a Scottish administration.
"Nothing would more damage the credibility of this new Parliament than an election in which people did not understand the voting mechanism or misunderstood the significance of the votes they cast."
BACKGROUND
1. The one-day seminar was held at Victoria Quay in Edinburgh and organised by the Institute for Citizenship. For further details, contact the Institute on 0171 935 4777.
News Release: 2053/98
12 October 1998