A parliamentary vote refers to the process by which laws are approved, amended or passed in a parliamentary system. These systems are characterized by the supremacy of the legislative branch (parliament) over the executive branch (government).
The legislature may be unicameral, with one chamber, or bicameral with two chambers, as in Australia and the United States. The lower chamber is usually directly elected by the people and more powerful than the upper chamber, which is often appointed or indirectly elected and has less power (the House of Lords in England, for example).
During an election voters mark their first preference on a ballot paper. If no candidate reaches the required quota of votes, then their second (and third, fourth and so on) preference votes are transferred to other candidates until a single candidate receives more first preferences than all the other remaining candidates put together. This candidate is elected.
In addition to electing Members of Parliament (MPs) for their constituencies, many countries use a closed party list electoral system to select additional members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Voters are given two votes on the ballot paper: one for their constituency MP and one for MEPs. The number of seats each party gets depends on the percentage of party list votes it receives in a region.
A major advantage of a parliamentary system is that it gives all political parties, large and small, majority and minority groups, representation in the policy-making process. This prevents a single political party from dominating the government and ignoring minorities, as can happen in presidential systems.