Question 47
NECO
•
2022
•
GOVERNMENT
•
objective
In a first‑past‑the‑post electoral system, Party A received 40 % of the total votes and won 60 % of the seats, while Party B received 35 % of the votes and won 30 % of the seats. Explain two reasons why the distribution of seats does not proportionally reflect the vote percentages.
Answer Options
A.
The system applies a quota that guarantees each party a minimum number of seats regardless of votes, so the difference between votes and seats is caused by the quota allocation rather than the electoral rule.
Correct Answer
B.
Because FPTP awards seats to the plurality in each constituency, a party with geographically concentrated support can win many seats with a modest vote share, while a party with evenly spread support may win few seats despite a larger share of votes; additionally, the winner‑takes‑all rule means votes for losing candidates do not translate into seats, leading to disproportional outcomes.
C.
Because FPTP uses proportional representation, parties with small national vote shares automatically receive a matching proportion of seats, so any discrepancy must be due to counting errors.
D.
Since each constituency elects multiple representatives, the total number of seats a party wins is directly proportional to its overall vote share, making the observed mismatch a statistical anomaly.
Correct Answer
B
Correct Option:
Because FPTP awards seats to the plurality in each constituency, a party with geographically concentrated support can win many seats with a modest vote share, while a party with evenly spread support may win few seats despite a larger share of votes; additionally, the winner‑takes‑all rule means votes for losing candidates do not translate into seats, leading to disproportional outcomes.
About This Question
This is
Neco
2022
Government
Question 47.
It is one of the
objective
questions from the
2022
Neco
Government
examination.
Difficulty level:
Medium
.