Guidelines to Assist National Minority Participation in the Electoral Process Page: 24 1. District Magnitude The crucial determinant of an electoral system’s ability to translate votes cast into seats won proportionately, is the district magnitude. That is to say the number of members to be elected in each electoral district. Under a single member system such as first-past-the-post, AV or the Two-Round system, there is a district magnitude of one; voters are electing a single representative. Under a Multi-Member system, by contrast, there will, by definition, be more than one member elected in each district. Under any Proportional System, the number of members to be chosen in each district determines, to a significant extent, how proportional the election results will be. In this respect “the systems which achieve the greatest degree of proportionality will utilise very large districts, because such districts are able to ensure that even very small parties are represented in the legislature. For example, a district in which there are only three members to be elected means that a party must gain at least 25% + 1 of the vote to be assured of winning a seat. A party that has the support of only 10% of the electorate would not win a seat, and the votes of this party’s supporters could therefore be said to have been wasted. The problem is that as districts grow larger – both in terms of the number of seats and often, as a consequence, in the geographic size as well – so the linkage between an elected member and his or her constituency grows weaker. This can have serious consequences in societies where local factors play a strong role in politics, or where voters expect their member to maintain strong links with their electorate and act as their “delegate” in the legislature. There will always be degrees of the deviation among the various magnitudes of the delimited districts. Many electoral laws stipulate the degree of acceptable deviation, such as 5% in Croatia and 10% in the United Kingdom. However, certain countries allow greater degrees of deviation and it is therefore difficult to refer to acceptable degrees of deviation without regard to the specific circumstances applicable to each country. It is important that whatever the degree of deviation that may be found, such deviation should not in any way prejudice national minorities in terms of their representation or voting power. Constituencies with several seats, even under a majority system, may make it easier for members of minorities to be elected in constituencies where the minority is not in the majority. If there is only one seat to be filled, voters from the majority tend to choose a candidate from the majority, whereas in a multi-member constituency system, voters may vote for a list of candidates which includes majority and minority candidates. Thus, in Greece, parties include Muslim candidates on their lists and at least two of them are usually elected. In Poland and in Switzerland, parties tend to balance their lists so as to ensure that minorities are fully represented. 2. Territorial delimitation The manner in which electoral boundaries are demarcated will have a determinant effect on the nature of representation in a particular area. While the general principles governing boundary demarcation are dealt with below, it remains important for policy and decision-makers to first decide as to whether they want to demarcate electoral boundaries in a manner which will enhance and facilitate the greater representation of minorities. The delimitation of electoral districts is most commonly associated with plurality or majority electoral systems. Both systems rely heavily, if not exclusively on single member districts. These districts must be redrawn periodically to reflect changes in the population. Electoral legislation outlining the formal structure and rules for redistricting should address the following issues: