In party-list proportional representation systems, an election threshold is a clause that stipulates that a party must receive a minimum percentage of votes, either nationally or within a particular district, to get any seats in the parliament. The effect of the threshold is to deny small parties the right of representation, or force them into coalitions. Many people hold that this makes an election system more stable by keeping out radical factions. It is also argued that in the absence of a preferential ballot system supporters of minor parties are effectly disenfranchised and denied the right of representation by someone of their choosing. Vote redirects here. ... For other uses, see Politics (disambiguation). ... This article is about the political process. ... Image File history File links Vote_icon. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Postal voting. ... Abstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a vote either does not goes to vote (on election day) or, in parliamentary procedure, isnt absent during the vote, but does not cast a ballot. ... For the town in France, see Ballots, Mayenne. ... Clear sided ballot boxes used in the Haitian general election in 2006. ... Ballot stuffing is the act of one person submitting multiple ballots during a vote in which only one ballot per person is permitted. ... Early voting, or vote banking, not to be confused with absentee voting, allows a voter to cast a ballot in front of an elections official before the official poll date. ... Election Day Registration, also known as same-day voter registration, permits eligible citizens to register and vote on Election Day. ... An elector can be: In the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation, the collegiate of seven Electors (eight since 1648) (Kurfürsten) consisted of those lay or clerical princes who had the right to vote in the election of the king or Holy Roman Emperor; see prince-elector. ... None of the Above (NOTA) is a ballot choice in some jurisdictions or organizations, placed so as to allow the voter to indicate his disapproval with all of the candidates in any voting system. ... The paradox of voting, also referred to as Downs paradox is a reference to the fact that for a rational, self-interested voter, the costs of voting will normally exceed the expected benefits. ... A polling station situated inside a suburban library in the north of Cambridge during the United Kingdom general election, 2005. ... Postal Voting describes the method of voting in an election whereby ballot papers are distributed and/or returned by post to electors, in contrast to electors voting in person at a Polling station or electronically via an Electronic voting system. ... A precinct is a space enclosed by the walls or other boundaries of a particular place or building, or by an arbitrary and imaginary line drawn around it. ... In an open list proportional representation system voters can indicate their preference for a particular individual candidate on a party list by voting for him or her. ... A Protest vote is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate the casters unhappiness with the choice of candidates or the current political system. ... In U.S. elections, when someone shows up at a polling place to cast a vote, but is not on the list of people who may vote there (is not registered in that precinct, or his registation is otherwise invalid or inaccurate), he may be allowed to cast a provisional... A refused ballot, or similar alternative, is a choice available to voters in many elections. ... Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      The secret ballot is a voting method in which a voters choices are confidential. ... In voting, a ballot paper is considered to be spoilt, void, or null if it is regarded by the election authorities to contain irregularities during vote counting, and hence cannot be recorded as a valid vote. ... In voting systems, tactical voting (or strategic voting) occurs when a voter supports a candidate other than his or her sincere preference in order to prevent an undesirable outcome. ... A tally (also see tally sticks) is an unofficial private observation of an election count carried out under Proportional Representation using the Single Transferable Vote. ... A ticket refers to a single election choice which fills more than one political office or seat. ... Ticket Splitters are those who split their tickets for public office, voting on the basis of individual personalities and records instead of on the basis of party loyalties. ... Election Technology This box:      A vote center sometimes known as a super precinct is a polling place that combines multiple precincts allowing voters to choose at which location to vote. ... Vote pairing (or vote swapping as it has also been called) is the method where a voter in one district agrees to vote tactically for a less-preferred candidate or party who has a greater chance of winning in their district, in exchange for a voter from another district voting... In politics, voter fatigue is the apathy that the public can experience when they are required to vote too often. ... Voter registration is the shit in some democracies for citizens to check in with some central registry before being allowed to vote in elections. ... Voters lining up outside a Baghdad polling station during the 2005 Iraqi election. ... A polling station situated inside a suburban library in the north of Cambridge during the United Kingdom general election, 2005. ... A voting machine is a device to record and register votes to be counted as per any voting system, with or without printing a ballot for the voter to verify. ... Party-list proportional representation systems are a family of voting systems used in multiple-winner elections (e. ... Preference (or taste) is a concept, used in the social sciences, particularly economics. ...

In Poland's Sejm and Germany's Bundestag (elected through the Additional member system), this threshold is 5% (or 3 constituency seats in the Bundestag, but directly won constituencies are kept, regardless), while it is 2% in Israel's Knesset (it was 1% before 1992 and 1.5% from 1992-2003), and 10% in the Turkish parliament. In Poland, ethnic minority parties do not have to reach the threshold level to get into the parliament, and so there are 2 German minority MPs in the Sejm. The Sejm building in Warsaw. ... Type Lower house President of the Bundestag Dr. Norbert Lammert, CDU since October 18, 2005 Members 614 Political groups (as of September 18, 2005 elections) Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union of Bavaria Bloc (226), Social Democratic Party of Germany (222), Free Democratic Party (61), The Left Party. ... The Additional Member System (AMS) is a voting system in which some representatives are elected from geographic constituencies and others are elected under proportional representation from party lists. ... Type Unicameral Speaker of the Knesset Dalia Itzik, Kadima since May 4, 2006 Deputy Speaker Majalli Wahabi, Kadima since May 4, 2006 Members 120 Political groups Kadima Labour-Meimad Shas Likud Last elections March 28, 2006 Meeting place Knesset, Jerusalem, Israel Web site www. ... The Sejm building in Warsaw. ...

There are also countries – such as Portugal, South Africa, Finland, the Netherlands, and the Republic of Macedonia – that have proportional representation systems without a threshold, although the Netherlands has a rule that the first seat can never be a remainder seat, which means that there is an effective threshold of 100% divided by the total number of seats. In the Slovenian parliamentary elections of 1992 and 1996 the threshold was set at 3 parliamentary seats. This meant that the parties needed to win about 3.2% of the votes in order to pass the threshold. In 2000 the threshold was raised to 4% of the votes. For an explanation of terms related to Macedonia, see Macedonia (terminology). ...

Countries can have more than one threshold. Germany, as mentioned earlier, has a "regular" threshold of 5%, but a party winning three constituency seats in the Bundestag can gain additional representation even if it has achieved under 5% of the total vote. Most multiple-threshold systems are still in the proposal stage. For example, in Canada, one proposal to reform the electoral system would see a 5% national threshold, 1% of the vote and 1 seat in the House of Commons, or 2% nationally and 15% of the vote in any one province.^{[citation needed]}

Election thresholds are often implemented with the intention of bringing stability to the political system. However, they can sometimes seriously affect the relation between the percentage of the popular vote and seat distribution. A striking example is Turkey. The 10% threshold in Turkey was established mainly to prevent multi-party coalitions and put a stop to the endless fragmentation of political parties seen in '60s and '70s. However, coalitions ruled between 1991 and 2002, mainstream parties continued to be fragmented and as a serious side effect, the 2002 elections caused 45% of votes (cast for below-threshold parties) to be unrepresented in the parliament.^[1]. Similar case happened at Russian parliamentary elections in 1995, with 5% threshold excluding parties with more than 45% of votes (in 1998, Russian Constitutional Court found the threshold legal, taking into account limits in its use^[2]). Legislative elections were held in the Russian Federation on December 17, 1995. ...

For these reasons some people feel that the effects of election thresholds (including the effective disenfranchisement of anyone who supports a "fringe" party) are worse than the supposed problems they counter. In the Ukrainian elections of March 2006, for which there was a 3% threshold, 22% of voters were effectively disenfranchised, having voted for minor candidates – and the representation of parties exceding the threshold was increased to a level 22% higher than that corresponding to their share of the voters' support. One party, People's Opposition Bloc of Natalia Vitrenko, received over 3% of the formal vote but failed to obtain 3% of the overall vote (which includes informal ballot papers, i.e. votes that are blank or incorrectly filled out). Disenfranchising refers to the removal of the ability to vote from a person or group of people. ... Disenfranchisement or disfranchisement is the revocation of, or failure to grant, the right of suffrage (the right to vote) to a person or group of people. ... The Peoples Opposition Bloc of Natalia Vitrenko, (Ukrainian: ) is a political alliance in Ukraine led by Natalia Vitrenko. ...

Election thresholds can produce a spoiler effect, similar to that in the First-past-the-post voting system, where minor parties unable to overcome thresholds take votes away from other parties with similar ideologies. Fledgling parties in these systems often find themselves in a vicious circle – if a party is perceived as having no chance of meeting the threshold, it often cannot gain popular support, and if the party cannot gain popular support, it will continue to have little or no chance of meeting the threshold. The spoiler effect is a term to describe the effect a candidate can have on a close election, in which their candidacy results in the election being won by a candidate dissimilar to them, rather than a candidate similar to them. ... An example of a plurality ballot. ... Vicious Circle is an album released in 1995 by L.A. Guns. ...

By comparison, elections involving a Preferential voting system permit votes for candidates below the threshold to be redistributed according to the voter's indicated preference. This permits the continued participation in the election process of those whose votes would otherwise be "wasted" and minor vote candidates are able to indicate to their supporters before the vote how they would wish to see their votes transferred. Preferential voting is widely used in Australia and Ireland. This STV ballot for the Australian Senate illustrates group voting tickets. ... Preference (or taste) is a concept, used in the social sciences, particularly economics. ...

Notes

See also

• List of democracy and elections-related topics