Last Updated on 28. April 2023 by Martin Schuster

Each party receives the share influence (e.g., seats in a parliament) corresponding to the share of votes. If a party gets 30% of all votes, it gets 30% of all seats in the parliament. This type of election is suitable for electing groups of people. But it is rather bad for decisions.

Advantages

• This system is a good reflection of the voter’s will.
• Small parties have an influence
• It is hard to manipulate through the shape of electoral districts

Disadvantages

• Voters cannot influence candidates directly since there is a list necessary
• Lower preferences are not reflected

Example

The following table shows the preference order of a group of people. They can choose their favorite party (1. Preference)

Preference	A	A	B	B	C	C
Preference	B	C	A	C	A	B
Preference	C	B	C	A	B	A
Number of persons with this preference order	6	0	5	2	5	3

Total number of voters: 21

The result is:

• Influence party A: 6/21 = 28.6%
• Influence party B: 7/21 = 33.33%
• Influence party C: 8/21 = 38.1%

If the total number of seats in the parliament is 100, party A would get 29 seats (after rounding), B 33, and party C 38.