Guidelines to Assist National Minority Participation in the Electoral Process - Page: 22 they have the advantage of using small single-member (AV) or multi-member (STV) electoral districts, thus guaranteeing geographic accountability. The disadvantages of preferential or alternative vote systems are as follows: - preferential voting systems are more complicated for both voters and electoral officials than other choices, and can be problematic in circumstances of high illiteracy; - majority versions like AV can produce disproportional outcomes; - proportional versions like STV can encourage candidates from the same party to compete with each other for votes; - they are not widely used in practice and consequently it is difficult to assess their merits in concrete situations. Option 4: Lower numerical thresholds for representation in the legislature may enhance the inclusion of national minorities in governance. The threshold of representation in legislatures means the minimum level of support that a party needs to gain representation. The threshold will affect the ability of smaller parties, particularly minority parties, to get representation in Parliament. A high threshold will discourage minority representation. Certain countries such as Germany and Russia have a 5% threshold which is the minimum level which parties would need to secure in order to be awarded seats from the PR lists. It should however be noted that in relation to Germany, there is a subsidiary qualification mechanism in that threshold rules do not apply to national minorities. On the other hand, in Russia in 1995 there were no other routes of electoral qualification which had the result of a substantial number of party list votes for smaller parties having no effect. Legal thresholds vary in extent, from 0.67% in the Netherlands and 2% in Denmark, to 10% in Turkey and in the Seychelles. In many cases high thresholds tend to increase the levels of disproportionality because there may be many votes cast that have no effect. By way of illustration, in Poland in 1993 over 34% of the votes were cast for parties that did not meet the threshold of 5%, although in Poland the threshold rules do not apply to national minorities. It should also be noted that if the threshold is too low, then that might result in the fragmentation of political parties and the entrenchment of minority parties, particularly if funding is also made available. High thresholds may serve to discriminate against small parties – indeed, in some cases this is the express purpose. A high threshold may impel smaller parties to group together particularly if there is provision in the electoral law to permit political parties to do so, thus forming a “cartel or apparentement” to contest the election. This means that the parties themselves remain separate entities and are listed separately on the ballot paper, but their votes are counted as one, thus increasing their chances of making the threshold. This device is a feature of a number of list PR systems in continental Europe, Latin America and Israel. C. Other Mechanisms In addition to the above mechanisms and systems, there are other methods that may be utilised to assist and facilitate minority representation. Two of these are listed below: