What are the electoral systems? Who organizes the electoral systems? Let’s dig in and find out more.
By the end of this topic, you are expected to,
An electoral system refers to a set of rules determining the manner in which elections, as well as referendums, are conducted and the manner in which the results are determined. Governments organize the political electoral systems. Non-political elections on the other hand may take place in non-profit organizations, informal and business organizations.
Electoral systems are made up of rules governing every aspect of the process of voting: when elections occur, who is viable to vote, who is viable to stand as an aspirant, how the ballots are marked and cast, the counting method of the ballots, campaign spending limits, and other factors that may have an effect on the outcome. Electoral laws and the constitution define the political electoral systems. Political electoral systems are conducted by commissions of elections and can use different types of elections for the different offices.
Some electoral systems elect only one winner to a unique position, like a governor, president, or prime minister, while others elect several winners, like boards of directors and members of parliament. Electoral systems vary but the most common systems are; ranked voting, proportional representation, two-round system (runoff) and first-past-the-post voting. Some electoral systems like mixed systems try to combine the benefits of proportional systems and non-proportional systems.
Voting theory or social choice theory refers to the study of formally defined electoral methods. This study can take place in the fields of mathematics, economics and political science.
PLURALITY SYSTEMS
Plurality voting refers to a system where the candidate(s) with the highest number of votes wins, without a requirement to get a majority of votes. If only a single position is to be filled, the first-past-the-post system is used. If there are various positions to be elected, plurality voting is known as bloc voting.
MAJORITARIAN SYSTEMS
Majoritarian voting refers to a system where candidates have to receive a majority of votes in order to be elected. However, in most cases, plurality applies in the last counting round in cases where no candidate can achieve a majority. Majoritarian systems have two main forms, using a single round of ranked voting and the other involves using two or more rounds.
PROPORTIONAL SYSTEMS
Proportional representation is the electoral system that is most widely used for national legislatures. The single most common electoral system that is used by 80 countries is known as party-list proportional representation. It involves voters voting for a list of candidates that are proposed by a party. It can either be a closed list system or an open list system. Voters do not have any influence over the candidates that are put forward by the party in a closed list system. In an open list system, voters can vote for the party list thus influencing the order in which seats will be assigned to candidates.
MIXED SYSTEMS
A mixed system can be a mixed-member proportional representation or parallel voting. This system is used in several countries to elect the legislature.
PRIMARY ELECTIONS
Primary elections limit the risk of vote splitting by ensuring a single party candidate.
INDIRECT ELECTIONS
In these elections, there is either no popular vote or the popular vote is the only stage of the election. In these systems, the final vote is normally taken by an electoral college.
Electoral systems are also characterized by their rules and regulations. This is normally set out by the electoral law or the constitution of the country. Rules of participation determine voter registration and nomination. Other regulations of the electoral systems include the selection of the voting devices like machine voting, ballots or open ballot systems, and consequently the type of vote counting systems, verification and auditing used.
Electoral rules place limits on suffrage and candidacy. Most countries' electorates are characterized by universal suffrage (right to vote to all adult citizens regardless of wealth, gender, race or any other differences), but there are differences in the age at which people are allowed to vote, with the youngest being 16 and the oldest 21 (although voters must be 25 to vote in Senate elections in Italy). People may be disenfranchised for a range of reasons, such as being a serving prisoner, being declared bankrupt, having committed certain crimes, or being a serving member of the armed forces. Similar limits are placed on candidacy (also known as passive suffrage) and in many cases, the age limit for candidates is higher than the voting age.
Some countries have minimum turnout requirements for elections to be valid. Reserved seats are used in many countries to ensure representation for ethnic minorities, women, young people, or the disabled. These seats are separate from general seats and maybe elected separately or are allocated to parties based on the results of the election.
