Parliamentary vote is the system of democracy used in many countries around the world. It is a system of government in which people elect representatives to a legislative body (parliamentary or national assembly). These members then form a government and select the prime minister, who then leads the executive branch. These governments may be overturned by a motion of no confidence or they may be dissolved and new elections called.
A major advantage of parliamentary systems is that they allow all parties, small and large, majority and minority, to be represented in the legislature. This reduces the tensions that can develop in societies where only one party dominates the political process.
Most parliamentary democracies employ either a plurality or a first-past-the-post electoral system, where each voter has two votes. One is for a candidate from their constituency and the other is for a member of a political party. Voters rank candidates in order of preference by marking 1, 2, 3 and so on. The candidate with the most first preference votes wins. The remaining votes are then allocated to second, third and so on preferences until the quota for all candidates is reached.
In some parliamentary systems, such as the United Kingdom, the head of state has the power to veto legislation passed by the parliament. In others, such as Greece and Italy, the role of the executive and legislative branches are blurred and the head of state can simply call a general election when a government loses a confidence vote or when the parliamentary term ends.