Guidelines to Assist National Minority Participation in the Electoral Process Page: 15 form a political party do not resort to violence or conflict with the rights of others, there should be no impediment for them to associate in that manner. B. - LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK The right to freedom of association should be entrenched in the State’s Constitution and should not permit legislative or executive restriction of that right except to the extent necessary in a democratic society. Any restrictions on the freedom of association should be prescribed in law. There should be no prior consent necessary to establish an association although it is permissible for a State to require associations to register for certain purposes, provided that the registration procedure does not in effect make it difficult for associations to register and operate. VII. LUND RECOMMENDATION ON ELECTIONS: No. 9 “The electoral system should facilitate minority representation and influence. • Where minorities are concentrated territorially, single member districts may provide sufficient minority representation; • Proportional representation systems, where a political party’s share in the national vote is reflected in its share of the legislative seats, may assist in the representation of minorities; • Some forms of preference voting, where voters rank candidates in order of choice, may facilitate minority representation and promote inter-communal co-operation; • Lower numerical thresholds for representation in the legislature may enhance the inclusion of national minorities in governance.” A. CONTENT EXPLANATION The basic premise of the guidelines under this paragraph is that States that have well designed democratic political institutions are more successful at managing conflict and resolving political grievances particularly those that relate to national minorities. Accordingly the design of the political institutions and the electoral system, in particular, performs an important role in managing conflict and providing a peaceful outlet directing the interests that may otherwise fuel conflict into effective participation in public life. This is particularly so in societies in which there are competing ethnic groups. If an electoral system does not address the real needs of a society and the social formations within it, it will not only lead to political and administrative difficulties but may, itself, be the cause of conflict. It follows therefore that an important practical application of the Lund Recommendations is to firstly review the existing electoral system and to improve the design, if necessary, to achieve that objective. Electoral systems can be specifically constructed to address the particular needs in a society. This is because they prescribe how votes are translated into seats. The choice of system can lead to different outcomes on the same number of votes. For example an electoral system based on constituencies will often lead to a different result from a system of strict proportional representation.23 This may, in 23 For example in the last election in 1997 in the United Kingdom, forty three percent of the vote secured sixty three percent of the seats (418 in total) for the Labour Party. A strictly proportional representation system would have given them only 283 seats. A particularly stark example