Local government elections take place every four years to councils. The last local government election was held on 18 May 2023. Elections to Mid Ulster District Council are held to fill 40 seats spread across 7 District Electoral Areas.
Proportional Representation is the electoral system used to make sure the candidates elected represent accurately the opinions of the voters. The system of Proportional Representation used in Northern Ireland is called Single Transferable Vote (STV). Every voter has only one vote but they can choose for it to be transferred from one candidate to another. This is done by numbering the candidates in order of preference 1, 2, 3 and so on, for as many or as few candidates as the voter wishes.
STV is used at all elections in Northern Ireland except for those to the Westminster Parliament, where a single 'X' is indicated against the voters preferred candidate.