Double simultaneous vote

Double simultaneous vote (DSV) is an electoral system in which multiple offices – such as the president and members of a legislature – are elected through a single vote cast for a party. It can be combined with other electoral systems; in Uruguay DSV is used to elect the president and members of the Senate and Chamber of Representatives, with the presidential election also using the two-round system; if no party/presidential candidate receives a majority of the vote, a second round is held for the presidential election.[1]

The initial republican constitutions of several countries in the Commonwealth of Nations, such as Kenya,[2] Guyana[3] and Zambia,[4] provided for presidential elections by double simultaneous vote. Occasionally, as in Tanganyika,[5][6] a variant was used whereby the candidate who won a majority of constituencies (as opposed to a plurality of votes) would be elected. Such systems have also been used in Latin America.[citation needed]

  1. ^ Uruguay Election Passport
  2. ^ THE CONSTITUTION OF KENYA ACT 1969, Section 9 – "in every constituency in which a poll is required to be taken[...]the ballot paper shall be in such form as to pair each candidate for President who is nominated by a particular political party with the candidate (if any) for the National Assembly who is nominated by that political party, and so as to permit the voter to cast one vote for one of the pairs (which shall be taken to be a vote for each member of the pair who is a candidate in a contested election);"
  3. ^ "LAWS OF GUYANA" (PDF). parliament.gov.gy. 2012. Retrieved 2021-01-28.
  4. ^ Zambia 1968
  5. ^ An Act to Declare the Constitution of Tanganyika, Section 4
  6. ^ The Republican Constitution of Tanganyika