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Brief Profiles of Countries, EMB’s and Partner Organisations of A-WEB

48. List Proportional Representation (List PR) – A preference marked is then assigned a value calculated
system in which each participant party or grouping by using the series of divisors 1, 2, 3 .... For example,
presents a list of candidates for an electoral district, in a ten-candidate field a first preference is worth one,
voters vote for a party, and parties receive seats in a second preference is worth 0.5, a third preference
proportion to their overall share of the vote. Winning 0.3333, and so on. These are summed and the
candidates are taken from the lists. See Closed list, candidate(s) with the highest total(s) is/are declared
Open list and Free list. elected. See also Borda Count.
49. Lower house – One of the two chambers in a 56. Multi-member district – A district from which more
bicameral legislature, usually seen as comprising than one representative is elected to a legislature or
‘the representatives of the people’. It is the more elected body. See also Single-member district.
powerful chamber when the powers of the two
chambers are unequal. 57. Multiple-tier system – An electoral system in which
two or more sets of representatives are elected
50. Majoritarian – Designed to produce an absolute to the same chamber by the entire electorate of
majority (50 per cent plus 1) of votes. a country. The multiple tiers may be electoral
districts defined at different levels within a country,
51. Malapportionment – The uneven distribution of for example, singlemember districts and regions,
voters between electoral districts. Manufactured or regions and the country as a whole. Systems
majority – An election result, more commonly found in which two distinct sets of representatives are
where a plurality/ majority system is used, in which elected from the same level are also multiple-
a single party or coalition wins less than 50 per cent tier systems. All mixed systems are multiple-tier
of the valid votes but an absolute majority of the systems.
seats in an elected body.
58. One Person One Vote One Value (OPOVOV) – A
52. Member state – A country which is a member of a principle of representation in which each elected
supranational institution, for example the European representative represents the same number of
Union.
electors, and under which malapportionment is
53. Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) – A mixed minimized.
system in which all the voters use the first electoral 59. Open list – A form of List PR in which voters can
system, usually a plurality/majority system, to express a preference both for a party or grouping and
elect some of the representatives to an elected for one, or sometimes more, candidates within that
body. The remaining seats are then allocated to party or grouping. See also Closed list and Free list.
parties and groupings using the second electoral
system, normally List PR, so as to compensate 60. Out-of-country voting – A mechanism by which
for disproportionality in their representation in the voters who are permanently or temporarily absent
results from the first electoral system. from a country are enabled to cast a vote. See
External voting. See also Remote voting.
54. Mixed system – A system in which the
choices expressed by voters are used to elect 61. Overhang mandate – See Überhangsmandat.
representatives through two different systems, Panachage – The term used in francophone
one proportional representation system and one countries for the version of List PR in which voters
plurality/majority system. There are two kinds of may vote for a party or grouping and in addition
mixed system: Parallel systems and Mixed Member for one or more candidates, whether or not those
Proportional systems. candidates are nominated by that party or grouping.
See also Free list.
55. Modified Borda Count – A candidate-centred,
preferential system used in either singleor multi- 62. Parallel System – A mixed system in which the
member districts in which voters use numbers to choices expressed by the voters are used to elect
mark their preferences on the ballot paper and each representatives through two different systems,

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