A/HRC/13/23 number of minority candidates. Other special measures may be applied, especially to facilitate the election of women candidates.34 72. Ultimately, political participation through political parties may entail working through a combination of minority-focused and mainstream parties. Minority representatives may, for example, enter into coalitions with other parties, whether minority or mainstream. The configuration of the other parties may give them greater influence, for example, if they hold the balance with respect to the other parties. Even where numbers might not so warrant, the governing party may decide on a voluntary basis to include minority representatives in the Cabinet. 73. Some types of electoral systems may be more conducive than others to the election of minority representatives, and mechanisms specifically designed to enhance minority representation may also be incorporated into the electoral system. The electoral system prescribes how votes are translated into seats and different systems can lead to different outcomes on the same number of votes. The Human Rights Committee has stressed that “[t]he principle of one person, one vote, must apply, and within the framework of each State’s electoral system, the vote of one elector should be equal to the vote of another”.35 As a matter of general principle, therefore, each voter has one vote. However, in certain circumstances, in particular where the minority is small and as a special measure to improve the integration of a minority into the political system, members of minorities may have the right to vote for both a minority representative with a reserved seat and a general non-minority representative.36 74. A common mechanism used to facilitate minority representation is the allocation of special seats in the legislature to representatives of certain minorities (reserved seats). This is usually done under majority electoral systems which otherwise cannot guarantee minority representation, but is sometimes also used in proportional representation or mixed systems. Usually, members of the minority group, who have to register as such for this purpose, elect these representatives. The number of reserved seats generally seeks to reflect the proportion of the minority in the overall population, so it is likely to be small. If there are a number of very small minorities, they may be assigned a combined seat, although it may not be easy for one representative to represent genuinely the interests of all such groups. Mainstream parties may have an interest in mobilizing the reserved seats. 75. Where the electoral system requires parties to present a list of candidates for election, the electoral law may require that the list be ethnically mixed or have a minimum number of minority candidates.37 In “closed list” systems, where the party, rather than the voter, determines the order of priority of the candidates, the party may place the minority candidate high on the list to ensure that she or he gains a seat, regardless of voters’ actual 34 35 36 37 18 A. Reynolds, Electoral Systems and the Protection of Minorities, Minority Rights Group International, 2006 (“Reynolds 2006”), pp. 25–26; Ghai, p. 15. Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 25 (1996), para. 21. Council of Europe, European Commission for Democracy Through Law (“Venice Commission”), Report on Dual Voting for Persons Belonging to National Minorities (CDL-AD(2008)013), paras. 9– 10, 63–72. OSCE, Warsaw Guidelines to Assist National Minority Participation in the Electoral Process, 2001 (“Warsaw Guidelines”), p. 23; B. Reilly, “Democratic Levers for Conflict Management”, in International Institute for Democracy and Negotiators (IDEA), Democracy and Deep-rooted Conflict: Options for Negotiators, 1998, p. 200; A. Reynolds, “Public Participation by Minorities: Minority Members of the National Legislatures”, in Minority Rights Group International, State of the World’s Minorities, 2007 (“Reynolds 2007”), p. 19; Reynolds 2006, p. 18; Ghai, p. 15. GE.10-10198