1.3.1 – Different electoral systems
Citizens in the Republic of Ireland will go to the polls on 24 October 2025 to choose their next president. Although the role is largely a ceremonial one, it is still decided by public ballot. By contrast, many countries with ceremonial presidents choose to hold indirect elections, whereby only elected politicians have a vote, as is the case in Germany and Italy, for example.
Presidents of Ireland are elected using the alternative vote (AV), which requires candidates to rank candidates in order of preference. After voting has finished, the candidates are ranked in order of the number of first preference votes they received. If a candidate receives a majority of votes cast they are deemed elected. However, if no candidate receives a majority, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their votes transferred. This process continues until one candidate has a majority. In 2011, it took four counts before President Higgins was deemed the winner, having received 39.6% of first preference votes. However, in 2018, President Higgins was re-elected on the first count after receiving 55.8% of first preferences.
The strength of this system is that it ensures that the winner has greater legitimacy, and can be said to support the backing of the majority of voters. Moreover, it helps to ensure that candidates without broad appeal cannot win simply because other candidates ‘split the vote’, as can happen in FPTP elections. In the 2024 UK General Election, Labour’s Terry Jermy became the MP for South West Norfolk with just 26.7% of the vote, the smallest vote share at the election. The seat – which had been held by the Conservatives since 1964 – saw the Conservatives and Reform share almost 48% of the vote between them, but neither were able to win a plurality..
Critics of AV may argue that ranking candidates may cause confusion or lead to donkey voting, whereby voters simply rank the candidates in the order they appear on the ballot. However, the regular use of such systems (all Irish elections require candidates to be ranked, for example), can help to ensure that citizens are sufficiently aware of what is required of them at election time.