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Apportionment in the Hellenic Parliament

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Apportionment in theHellenic Parliament refers to those provisions of theGreek electoral law relating to the distribution of Greece's 300 parliamentary seats to theparliamentary constituencies, as well as to the method of seat allocation inGreek legislative elections for the variouspolitical parties. The electoral law wascodified for the first time through a 2012 Presidential Decree.^[1] Articles 1, 2, and 3 deal with how the parliamentary seats are allocated to the various constituencies, while articles 99 and 100 legislate the method of parliamentaryapportionment for political parties in an election.^[1] In both cases, Greece uses thelargest remainder method.

Up to and including the2019 Greek legislative election, Greece employed asemi-proportional representation system with a 50-seatmajority bonus. TheMay 2023 election saw the electoral system change toproportional representation, as the majority bonus will cease to be applied since it was abolished in 2016.^[2] This article is reflective of this method. Since theJune 2023 election, the system has reverted tosemi-proportional representation with a sliding scale bonus, after it was passed in parliament in 2020.^[3]

Background

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A black/white ballot box for lead ballots in acaricature about the1920 Greek legislative election.

Main article:Elections in Greece

Greek parliamentary constituencies correspond to the formerprefectures of Greece with the exception of constituencies inThessaloniki andAttica,^[4] which are divided into two and eight constituencies respectively. Constituencies have generic names, with constituencies which are broken up receivingGreek numerals to differentiate each other, with Thessaloniki A (Greek:Α' Θεσσαλονίκης) for example translating to "first (electoral district) of Thessaloniki". The break-up ofAthens B introducedArabic numerals to the names as well, for example Athens B1 (Greek:Β1' Αθηνών).

As of December 2018, Greece is divided into 59 electoral constituencies of varying sizes.^[5] The smallest constituencies are single-seat, while the largest,Athens B3, is represented by 18 members of parliament.^[5] Prior to the 2018 reform, which sawAthens B broken up into three smaller constituencies (Athens B1,Athens B2, and Athens B3), Athens B was the largest constituency in the country with 44 MPs, dwarfing the second-largest constituency ofThessaloniki A with 16 MPs.^[6]

TheConstitution of Greece includes provisions relating both to the constituencies and the number of MPs. Article 51 sets the minimum number of MPs at 200 and the maximum at 300,^[7] while Article 53 regulates the way in which constituencies and the electoral law can be changed, while also specifying that up to one twentieth of the total number of MPs (5%, or between 10 and 15 depending on the size of the parliament) may be elected on a national level instead of in constituencies.^[8] 12 MPs (4%, or one twenty-fifth) are elected in this manner.

Proportional representation (PR) was first introduced in Greece in the1926 election, replacing the olderapproval voting system in use since 1864.^[9] Under that system, voters cast lead ballots in ballot boxes corresponding to the number of candidates running in a constituency, placing their lead ballot in the white partition for approval and the black partition for disapproval;^[9] the candidates with the highest approval counts were selected until all seats were filled.^[9] Amajoritarian system was later adopted, with voters voting on party lists and the candidates with the most votes (even if below 50%) being elected.^[9] The introduction of PR created unstable governments and it has been re-established a number of times since, most recently in 1989, before being abolished.^[10] Reinforced proportional representation favouring the largest party, the type of electoral system used now,^[4] was first used in 1951.^[10] Overall, Greece has changed its electoral law regarding apportionment in the parliament on average once every 1.5 elections.^[10]

Themajority bonus was introduced in 2004 to replace the older method of reinforcing the proportional system. Under the previous system, seats were awarded in two or three stages, with increasing quota requirements for each stage.^[11]^[12] In its explanatory report regarding the law, theHellenic Parliament committee responsible for that piece of legislation concluded that reinforcing the proportional system through a simple majority bonus would significantly lower the malapportionment factor of Greek elections, since it would ensure that all seats are awarded completely proportionally with the exception of the winning party, which would receive a boost equal to 13.33% of the total seats.^[13] In particular, political parties would at a minimum be awarded at least 87% of the seats they would be entitled to if the system was not reinforced, as opposed to 70% under the previous law.^[13] The bonus was increased to 50 seats in 2009 (a boost of 16.66%), and this was first applied in theMay 2012 Greek legislative election.

The majority bonus was abolished in 2016 but was still applied at the2019 Greek legislative election, with the first elections held after that using proportional representation.^[2] As part of the 2019 revision to theConstitution of Greece, theSyriza-led government also wants to enshrine proportional representation in the Constitution.^[14] The Constitution would define 'proportional representation' as any system with amargin of error of less than 10% between percentage of the national vote received and percentage of seats awarded, and a maximumelectoral threshold of 3% of the national vote.^[14]New Democracy, the main opposition party, claimed that proportional representation would result in weak governments like it did in theFrench Fourth Republic and theWeimar Republic.^[14] The 1864 Greek Constitution previously specifiedapproval voting as the official electoral method, until the introduction of proportional representation in 1926;^[9] no constitution since then has specified the type of electoral system to be used.

Apportionment of seats allocated to the constituencies

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The constituencies of Greece, colour-coded by number of seats after the 2018 apportionment.

The number of seats per constituency is calculated by first figuring out the national quota by dividing the total legal population of Greece as recorded in the last census by the number of seats elected in constituencies (285).^[15] Theinteger of the division of the population of each constituency by the national quota, disregarding the decimals (marked $k {\displaystyle k}$ in the function below), is the number of seats allocated to that constituency;^[16] a constituency with a sum of 5.6 is awarded 5 seats. If there are seats left empty in the first round of allocations, all 59 constituencies are ranked in descending order of leftover decimals( $k_{1}\cdots k_{59}$ ) and a seat is awarded to any constituency with a $k {\displaystyle k}$ larger than orequal to $k_{x}$ , where $x {\displaystyle x}$ is the number of seats which remained empty in the first allocation;^[17] if there are 9 unassigned seats, the constituencies with the 9 highest leftover decimals are awarded a seat each. The mathematical formula below is a summary of this allocation process:

{\text{Constituency seats}}=\left\lfloor {{\text{(total legal population of the constituency)}} \over {\text{(total legal population of Greece)}}/285}\right\rfloor {\begin{cases}+1,&{\text{if }}k_{n}\geqslant k_{x}\\+0,&{\text{if }}k_{n}<k_{x}\end{cases}}

The use of integers only to determine the number of seats in the first allocation means that there are always seats left empty for allocation in the second step, since the number of seats allocated by rounding down is always less than the number of seats a constituency is entitled to. In the 2023 apportionment of seats, 256 seats were awarded to constituencies in the first step and 29 in the second;^[5]Evrytania andLefkada received no seats in the first step, but received one seat each due to their leftover decimals in the second step.^[5]

Apportionment of seats allocated to parties in legislative elections

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The electoral apportionment method of Greece in aflow chart visualisation.

The first step in determining the result of a Greek legislative election is to find the electoral quota (Greek:εκλογικό μέτρο) of each party on a national level. This is done by taking the number of votes received by each party polling at least 3% nationally and multiplying it by a number as shown in formula, thereupon dividing that sum by the total number of votes cast for political parties which have received at least 3% of the national vote;^[18] the number of seats elected in constituencies, without the possiblemajority bonus. The integer of this calculation gives the number of seats that each party is awarded,^[18] in proportion to its electoral result. As with the allocation of seats to the constituencies, if there are any seats left vacant in the first allocation, the political parties are ranked in descending order of leftover decimals( $k_{1}\cdots k_{n}$ ) and a seat is awarded to any constituency with a $k {\displaystyle k}$ larger than orequal to $k_{x}$ , where $x {\displaystyle x}$ is the number of seats which remained empty in the first allocation.^[18] This formula below is a summary of this calculation process:

{\text{Quota}}=\left\lfloor {{\text{(total number of votes for each party polling over 3}}\%{\text{ nationally)}}\times {\begin{cases}300,&{\text{if first party percent }}<25\%\\280-2*({\text{first party percent }}-25\%),&25\%\leqslant {\text{if first party percent }}<40\%\\250,&{\text{if first party percent }}\geqslant 40\%\end{cases}} \over {\text{(total number of votes cast for all parties polling over 3}}\%{\text{ nationally)}}}\right\rfloor {\begin{cases}+1,&{\text{if }}k_{n}\geqslant k_{x}\\+0,&{\text{if }}k_{n}<k_{x}\end{cases}}

Because the number of votes is multiplied by a smaller number rather than 300 it ensures that there are always some seats left vacant for the majority bonus. The national quota is used later in order to 'correct' the results in the constituencies, ensuring that the seats of the majority bonus are left vacant as intended. This provision was abolished in 2016, along with the majority bonus, and in elections after 2019 the total number of votes received by a party will be multiplied by 300 instead of 250.^[19]

The 15 MPs elected nationally

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In accordance with the constitution, several seats in the parliament are elected on a national level. These MPs are elected throughparty-list proportional representation using thelargest remainder method, with the whole of Greece acting as a single 15-seat constituency. The seats are allocated by first finding the national quota for these 15 seats, dividing the total number of votes cast for all parties which have received at least 3% of the vote nationally by 15, and then dividing the total number of votes for each party which has received at least 3% of the national vote by the national quota for the 15 seats.^[20] The integer of this calculation is the number of seats each party is awarded in this apportionment.^[20] If there are any seats left vacant in the first allocation, the political parties are ranked in descending order of leftover decimals( $k_{1}\cdots k_{n}$ ) and a seat is awarded to any party with a $k {\displaystyle k}$ larger than orequal to $k_{x}$ , where $x {\displaystyle x}$ is the number of seats which remained empty in the first allocation.^[21] This formula below is a summary of this calculation process:

\left\lfloor {{\text{(total number of votes for each party polling over 3}}\%{\text{ nationally)}} \over {\text{(total number of votes cast for all parties polling over 3}}\%{\text{ nationally)}}\div 15}\right\rfloor {\begin{cases}+1,&{\text{if }}k_{n}\geqslant k_{x}\\+0,&{\text{if }}k_{n}<k_{x}\end{cases}}

Malapportionment

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TheGallagher index (or Least Squares Index), was developed byMichael Gallagher as a means of measuring the electoral disproportionality or malapportionment between the percentage of votes parties receive in an election versus the percentage of seats allocated to them.^[30] Greece's "notorious"^[30] 'reinforced proportionality' system produces Gallagher Indices more closely approximating those offirst-past-the-post systems rather than proportional systems like Denmark or New Zealand.^[31]

Taking the examples of the Gallagher Indices of selected countries in their last election, theSeptember 2015 Greek election had an index of 9.69.^[31] The United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada, all first-past-the-post systems, scored 6.47, 11.48, and 12.01 respectively in their last elections (the United Kingdom's Indices prior in the four elections prior to the last one averaged between 15 and 17).^[31] France'stwo-round system produced an index of 21.12, while Denmark and New Zealand, usingproportional representation andmixed-member proportional representation, scored 0.79 and 2.73.^[31] Greece used proportional representation in the legislative elections ofJune 1989,November 1989, and1990, which had lower Gallagher Indices of 4.37, 3.94, and 3.97.^[31] When the majority bonus was raised from 40 seats to 50 in theMay 2012 election, the Gallagher Index nearly doubled from 7.29 in 2009 to 12.88.^[31]

Gallagher Indices of Greece between 1946 and 2015
Comparison of Gallagher Indices of Greece (blue) and other countries between 1946 and 2017
Number of political parties in the Hellenic Parliament by electoral system between 1910 and 2017