Out for the Count: Mathematics of Voting Systems - At Edinburgh Science Festival

The Open University is delighted to be presenting this interactive online activity at the Edinburgh Science Festival 2021. 

Voters, voters, in the poll, which is the fairest system of all?

Democracy relies on fair and free elections, but how does the voting system affect the outcome?

Across the UK and the world, different systems are used: the Additional Member System for the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Senedd, the Single Transferable Vote for the Northern Irish Assembly, the Alternative Vote for Irish presidential elections, and First Past The Post for Westminster.

But which is the fairest and/or most effective? In these practical on-demand sessions, join Dr Andrew Potter (Deputy Associate Dean in the OU's Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Faculty) and see how different voting systems can produce very different results! You'll discover how maths can help us decide what we mean by the “fairness” of a voting system. We'll be counting ballots in a mock election. 

Join online between 26 June and 11 July, on the Edinburgh Science Festival website. Activity is for ages 12+. 

There is a wide range of free learning about mathematics on the OU site OpenLearn, such as Everyday Maths 1.