The parliamentary vote is the process of voting in a parliamentary assembly. Parliaments can be used to create new laws, approve budgets and hold government ministers to account. They can also pass a motion of no confidence in the government which would force a general election.
Generally in a parliamentary system the head of state, whether hereditary king or queen in a constitutional monarchy or elected president or chancellor in a republic, only has ceremonial executive powers and does not have a veto over legislative acts of the legislature. A veto of this type can only be overturned by a majority vote in the legislature.
Parliamentary systems typically have a party-based form of democracy in which voters choose members of a political party to represent them. Those members in turn select the leader of their party to be the Prime Minister, who forms an executive cabinet. Most parliamentary democracies have some form of proportional representation in their electoral system to ensure that the overall number of seats matches the percentage of votes received by each party.
During an election, voters place a mark on their ballot paper next to the name of the candidate representing their party. Those with the most votes are elected to their constituency seat. In addition to this, parties are awarded additional seats based on the percentage of votes received in each region. These additional seats are known as ‘party list’ seats.