Referendum 2011

On Thursday, 5 May 2011, as well as deciding who will be the borough and town or parish councillors for the next four years, voters also had the opportunity to take part in the first national referendum since 1975

Elections 2011 - Referendum - 5 May 2011 A referendum asks participants to vote 'yes' or 'no' to a proposal.

This referendum asked voters a question about the voting system used to elect MPs to the House of Commons.

The actual referendum question was:

"At present, the UK uses the 'first past the post' system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the 'alternative vote' system be used instead?"

The referendum was organised centrally by the Electoral Commission but it was run locally by each council for their area.

The Electoral Commission sent every household a local elections and referendum booklet. Many households also received material from two organisations who successfully applied to the Electoral Commission to campaign on behalf of the 'yes' and 'no' options in the referendum:

Organisation Name	Campaign Name	Outcome Wanted
Yes in May 2011 Limited	Yes to Fairer Votes	YES
No Campaign Limited	No to AV	NO

For more information about the referendum you can read our referendum frequently asked questions, visit the Aboutmyvote website or call 0800 3 280 280.