Proportional representation is a system of electing members of a legislature. It is designed to give a political party a share of the seats in the legislature in proportion to its share of the total vote cast in an election. It also offers opportunities for candidates of minority parties to be elected. Proportional representation has three basic features: (1) three or more legislators are chosen from each district at the same time; (2) the ballots are counted in a special way to give each political party its share of the vote; and (3) there are usually more than two active parties. These elements are present in both the List System and the Hare System.
The List System.
Each political party offers a list of candidates for the legislature, and voters mark their ballot for the party they choose, not the individual candidates. If a party wins 40 per cent of the vote, it receives 40 per cent of the available seats in the legislature. In a campaign to fill 100 seats, the first 40 candidates on the party’s list would be elected. If another party wins 20 per cent of the vote, its top 20 candidates receive seats in the legislature. The Netherlands, Belgium, and Israel are among the countries using this system.
The Hare System,
or single transferable vote, is much more complicated. Voters number the candidates on their ballot in the order of their choice. After counting the total number of ballots, election officials determine a mathematical election quota, the minimum needed for election. Then they count all the first choices. A candidate who wins the quota of first choices is declared elected. All of this candidate’s ballots above the quota are redistributed to the candidates chosen second by the voters. Next, the candidate with the fewest number of ballots is eliminated. This person’s ballots are redistributed to the second-choice candidates listed. If the second-choice candidate has already been elected, the ballot is passed on to the third choice, and so on. This process continues until enough candidates have reached the election quota to fill all the seats. An English lawyer, Thomas Hare, described the system in 1859. The Republic of Ireland has used it since 1920.
