Voting

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When you become 18 you will have the right to vote. Being a resident in Renfrewshire and in Scotland you will have the opportunity to have your say on the local councillors, Members of the Scottish parliament (MSPs) based in Edinburgh, Members of parliament (MPs) based in London for central government and Members of the European parliament (MEPs) for the European parliament.

With all these different people to vote for, understanding what each one does could be puzzling!

For central government we have two MPs and for the European parliament we have six MEPs representing us. Below you can find details about what each government or parliament does and its responsibilities, you can also view more information from the who can vote page.

• Local government - for example Renfrewshire Council, has responsibility for services including housing, education, social work...
• Scottish parliament - has responsibility for economic development, local government, health...
• Central government - is responsible for legislation, defence, employment, implementing government policies...
• European parliament - promotes social and economic progress among its members, foreign and security issues...

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At the local level, Renfrewshire is divided into 11 wards, each of which elects a number of councillors as follows:

When you visit the polling station you will receive a ballot paper to elect your local councillors, where you have to show your choice by marking the candidates in order of preference eg. 1,2,3 etc.

For Scottish parliamentary elections, Renfrewshire is covered by the three constituencies of Paisley North, Paisley South and West Renfrewshire whose boundaries are under review by the Boundary Commission for Scotland. A single MSP is elected directly for each constituency using a first past the post system. In addition, the Council area lies within the larger west of Scotland region which elects a further seven MSPs using a form of proportional representation.

When you vote you will receive two ballot papers, one containing the regional list of parties and individuals from which the seven regional MSPs will be elected and one showing the candidates for your constituency MSP. Here you will need to make a cross against your preferred party on one paper and a cross beside your preferred constituency candidate on the other paper.

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For central government elections to the Westminster parliament, the Renfrewshire Council area is covered by the parliamentary constituencies of:

• Paisley and Renfrewshire North
• Paisley and Renfrewshire South

Each of these constituencies elects a single MP to represent their interests in the national parliament in Westminster.

Members of the European parliament (MEPs) are elected by proportional representation (PR). Instead of electing one person to one seat in each constituency, the UK is divided into regions, and several MEPs are elected from each region.

Scotland is treated as one region and returns six MEPs out of a total of 72 for the UK.

The PR system uses closed regional lists, where political parties put forward candidates within each region (the regional list). Individual candidates may also stand. Voters cast their vote either for a party or an individual candidate.

Find out more..
At the Vote Scotland website you can find out if you're eligible to vote, how to register to vote and all the different ways you can cast your vote.

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