One election two votes 

A busy weekend ahead as the campaign gets underway. Although the national media focus is of course on the general election the focus locally is still the more immediate set of local elections with a by-election in Besses Ward and the Greater Manchester Mayoral Election. My postal vote arrived yesterday and is already back in the post. An unusual voting system is being used where everyone gets two votes. If I recall correctly the idea is that to win a candidate has to get over 50% of first preference votes. If no candidate reaches 50% when the votes are counted the candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated and then their second preference votes are taken into account and this may result in a candidate reaching 50%. The process continues until a candidate reaches 50%. I (obviously) voted for Sean Anstee as my first preference and left my second preference blank.