Open list describes any variant ofparty-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which aparty'scandidates are elected. This is as opposed toclosed list, in which party lists are in a predetermined, fixed order by the time of the election and gives the general voter no influence at all on the position of the candidates placed on theparty list.
An open list system allows voters to select individuals rather than, or in addition to parties. Different systems give the voter different amounts of influence to change the default ranking. The voter's candidate choices are usually calledpreference vote; the voters are usually allowed one or more preference votes for the open list candidates.
A "relatively closed" open list system is one where a candidate must reach a fullelectoral quota of votes on their own to be assured of winning a seat. The total number of seats won by the party minus the number of its candidates that achieved this quota gives the number of unfilled seats. These are then successively allocated to the party's not-yet-elected candidates who were ranked highest on the party list.
In both parliamentary and municipal elections, voters may alter the order of the party list or strike candidates from the list completely. How many votes need to be altered in this way to have an effect on the results varies by the number of seats won by the party in the constituency or municipality in question and the candidate's place on the list.[4] In the parliamentary elections of2007 and2009, voters altered the party lists enough to change the ranking of candidates within party lists. However, this did not affect which candidates ultimately got elected to parliament.[5]
In a "more open" list system, the quota for election of an individual representative could be lowered from the above amount. It is then possible that more of a party's candidates achieve this quota than the total seats won by the party. It should therefore be made clear in advance whether list ranking or absolute votes take precedence in that case. The quota for individuals is usually specified either as a percentage of the party list quota, or as a percentage of the total votes received by the party.
Example: The quota is 1000 votes and the open list threshold is specified as 25% of the quota, i.e. 250 votes. Therefore, a party which received 5000 votes wins five seats, which are awarded to its list candidates as follows:
Candidate position on the list
Preference votes
25% of the quota
Elected
#1
3500
x (first)
x
#2
50
x
#3
150
x
#4
250
x (third)
x
#5
100
#6
100
#7
450
x (second)
x
#8
50
Candidates #1, #7 and #4 have each achieved 25% of the quota (250 preference votes or more). They get the first three of the five seats the party has won. The other two seats will be taken by #2 and #3, the two highest remaining positions on the party list. This means that #5 is not elected even though being the fifth on the list and having more preference votes than #2.
In practice, with such a strict threshold, only very few candidates succeed to precede on their lists as the required number of votes is huge. Where the threshold is lower (e.g. in Czech parliamentary elections, 5% of the total party vote is the required minimum), results defying the original list order are much more common.
Parties usually allow candidates to ask for preference votes, but without campaigning negatively against other candidates on the list.
In some countries individual political parties can choose if their list is open or closed.[1]
The members of theNational Council are elected by open listproportional representation in nine multi-member constituencies based on thestates (with varying in size from 7 to 36 seats) and 39 districts. Voters are able to cast a single party vote and one preference votes each on the federal, state and electoral district level for their preferred candidates within that party. The thresholds for a candidate to move up the list are 7% of the candidate's party result on the federal level, 10% on the state level and 14% on the electoral district level.[6] Candidates for the district level are listed on the ballot while voters need towrite-in their preferred candidate on state and federal level.
InCroatia, the voter can give their vote to a single candidate on the list, but only candidates who have received at least 10% of the party's votes take precedence over the other candidates on the list.[7]
InCzech parliamentary elections, voters are given 4 preference votes. Only candidates who have received more than 5% of preferential votes at the regional level take precedence over the list.[8] For elections to the European Parliament, the procedure is identical but each voter is only allowed 2 preference votes.
In theNetherlands, the voter can give their vote to any candidate in a list (for example, in elections for theHouse of the Representatives); the vote for this candidate is called a "preference vote" (voorkeurstem in Dutch). Candidates with at least 25% of the quota takes priority over the party's other candidates who stand higher on the party list but received fewer preference votes. Most people vote for thetop candidate, to indicate no special preference for any individual candidate, but support for the party in general. Sometimes, however, people want to express their support for a particular person. Some people, for example, vote for the first woman on the list. If a candidate gathers enough preference votes, then they get a seat in parliament, even if their position on the list would leave them without a seat. In the2003 electionsHilbrand Nawijn, the formerminister of migration and integration, was elected into parliament for thePim Fortuyn List by preference votes even though he was thelast candidate on the list.
InSlovakia, each voter may, in addition to the party, select one to four candidates from the ordered party list. Candidates who are selected by more than 3% of the party's voters are elected (in order of total number of votes) first and only then is the party ordering used. For European elections, voters select two candidates and the candidates must have more than 10% of the total votes to override the party list. In theEuropean election in 2009 three of Slovakia's thirteen MEPs were elected solely by virtue of preference votes (having party-list positions too low to have won otherwise) and only one (Katarína Neveďalová of SMER) was elected solely by virtue of her position on the party list (having fewer preference votes than a number of other candidates who themselves, nevertheless had preferences from fewer than 10 percent of their party's voters).
InSweden, a person needs to receive 5% of the party's votes for the personal vote to overrule the ordering on the party list.[10] Voting without expressing a preference between individuals is possible, although the parties urge their voters to support the party's prime candidate, to protect them from being beaten by someone ranked lower by the party. The share of voters using the open list option at2022 Swedish general election was 22.49%.[11]
Finnish parliamentary election uses the open list method. Here an official poster rack in central Helsinki displays the candidates and their assigned ballot numbers by party.Ballot during theFinnish parliamentary election of 2011A campaign bus inTokyo for (successful)Communist proportional candidateTomoko Tamura in Japan's2016 Councillors election. Tamura received roughly half of her votes in Tokyo, other proportional candidates on the same list won most of their votes in other prefectures.[12] The proportional district is nationwide; but limited by a very short legal campaign period, some proportional candidates focus their campaign efforts on only certain regions where they personally or their party have a local base.
Themost-open list,fully-open list, or simplyopen list system is one where the number of votes for each candidate fully determines the order of election. This system is used in allFinnish,Latvian, andBrazilian multiple-seat elections. Since 2001, lists of this "most open" type have also been used in the elections to fill the 96 proportional seats in the 242-memberupper house of Japan.[citation needed]
A "free list", more usually calledpanachage or mixed list, is a variant on the most open list where voters may support candidates ondifferent lists. Candidates are typically elected using eithercumulative orblock plurality voting. This gives the voters full control over which candidates are elected, not just within a particular party, but even across them. As a result,independents are not forced to support candidates of only one party, and can support candidates across multiple lists, while still ensuring the results are ultimately proportional.[13]
Some ways to operate an open list system when using traditional paper-based voting are as follows:
One method (used inBelgium and theNetherlands) is to have a large ballot paper with a box for each party and sub-boxes for the various candidates. InBelgium, when electronic voting is used (in Flanders and Ostbelgien), the voter has to choose with an electronic pencil on a touchscreen between lists and blank vote, then on the list's page between the top box (vote for the list without preference for specific candidates) or the box(es) for one or several candidates on the same list.[14]
Another method (used inSlovakia andSpain) is to have a separate ballot paper for each party. To maintain voter secrecy, the voter is handed ballot papers for every party. The voter chooses the candidates (or may vote for the party as a whole) on one of the ballot papers, for example, by drawing circles around the candidate numbers (which is why casting preference votes is calledcircling in theCzech Republic andSlovakia). Then, the voter puts the party ballot paper into an envelope and puts the envelope into the ballot box.[citation needed]
InBrazil, each candidate is assigned a number (in which the first 2 digits are the party number and the others the candidate's number within the party). The voting machine has a telephone-like panel where the voter presses the buttons for the number of their chosen candidate. InFinland, each candidate is assigned a 3-digit number.[citation needed]
InItaly, the voter must write the name of each chosen candidate in blank boxes under the party box.[citation needed]
Some of these states may use other systems in addition to an open list, for examplefirst-past-the-post in individual constituencies. Some countries use open list may only be used in one of the chambers of the legislature.
Party lists run-off, but only if necessary to ensure stable majority of 54% if it is not achieved either immediately (one party) or through building a coalition.[39][40] If a party would win more than 2/3 seats, at least 1/3 seats are distributed to the other parties.
Nationwideclosed lists and open lists in multi-member districts. The winning party used to receive amajority bonus of 50 seats (out of 300), but this system will be abolished two elections after 2016.[41] In 2020 parliament voted to return to the majority bonus two elections thereafter.[42]
^"Country Profile: Sweden".ElectionGuide. Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening. 2010-08-08.Archived from the original on 2016-03-29. RetrievedJuly 8, 2012.
^Elgie, Robert (2016). "Government Systems, Party Politics, and Institutional Engineering in the Round".Insight Turkey.18 (4):79–92.ISSN1302-177X.JSTOR26300453.
"Preferential Voting: Definition and Classification" - Paper presented by Jurij Toplak at the annual meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association's 67th Annual National Conference, Chicago, IL, April 2009.
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Albania[29]
Armenia[30]
Austria[31]
Belgium[31]
Bosnia and Herzegovina[32]
Bulgaria[33]
Croatia[34]
Cyprus[31]
Czech Republic[CEPPS 4]
Denmark[31]
Estonia[CEPPS 5]
Finland[31]
Germany in:[citation needed]
Bavaria[citation needed]
Bremen
Hamburg
Greece[31]
Iceland
Italy forEuropean,regional andmunicipal elections. (formerly used fornational parliamentary elections)[35]
Latvia[CEPPS 6]
Liechtenstein[31]
Lithuania[36]
Luxembourg[CEPPS 7]
Netherlands[CEPPS 8]
Poland
San Marino[31]
Slovakia[CEPPS 9]
Slovenia[CEPPS 10]
Sweden[CEPPS 11]
Switzerland[16]
Ukraine[37]
