Mixed member proportional representation, also termed mixed-member proportional voting and commonly abbreviated to MMP, is a voting system used to elect representatives to numerous legislatures around the world. MMP is similar to other forms of proportional representation (PR) in that the overall total of party members in the elected body is intended to mirror the overall proportion of votes received; it differs by including a set of members elected by geographic constituency who are deducted from the party totals so as to maintain overall proportionality. In the United Kingdom, the different, only partly proportional form of MMP in use for several bodies is known as the additional member system (AMS), although the term additional member system can also be more broadly applied to include parallel voting, a semi-proportional system. In Germany it is called "personalized proportional representation" as distinct from the PR system used before MMP superseded it. Single-winner voting systems are voting systems in which a predetermined constituency elects a single person to some office; they contrast generally with proportional representation, in which constituencies are combined to elect several representatives at once. ... An example of a plurality ballot. ... An example of runoff voting. ... The exhaustive ballot is a voting system used to elect a single winner. ... Preferential voting (or preference voting) is a type of ballot structure used in several electoral systems in which voters rank a list or group of candidates in order of preference. ... The Condorcet candidate or Condorcet winner of an election is the candidate who, when compared in turn with each of the other candidates, is preferred over the other candidate. ... A Condorcet method is a single winner election method in which voters rank candidates in order of preference. ... Copelands method is a Condorcet method in which the winner is determined by finding the candidate with the most pairwise victories. ... The Kemeny-Young method is a voting system that uses preferential ballots, a tally table, and sequence scores to identify the most popular choice, and also identify the second-most popular choice, the third-most popular choice, and so on down to the least-popular choice. ... Minimax is often considered to be the simplest of the Condorcet methods. ... The Borda count can be combined with an Instant Runoff procedure to create hybrid election methods that are called Nanson method and Baldwin method. ... It has been suggested that Maximize Affirmed Majorities be merged into this article or section. ... The Schulze method is a voting system developed in 1997 by Markus Schulze that selects a single winner using votes that express preferences. ... Bucklin is a voting system that can be used for single-member districts and also multi-member districts. ... The Coombs method, created by Clyde Coombs, is a voting system used for single-winner elections in which each voter rank-orders the candidates. ... Example Instant-runoff voting ballot Instant-runoff voting (IRV) is a voting system most commonly used for single member elections in which voters have one vote, but can rank candidates in order of preference. ... The Borda count is a single winner election method in which voters rank candidates in order of preference. ... Moved content to Borda Count. ... On an approval ballot, the voter can vote for any number of candidates. ... Range voting (also called ratings summation, average voting, cardinal ratings, 0–99 voting, or the score system or point system) is a voting system for one-seat elections under which voters score each candidate, the scores are added up, and the candidate with the highest score wins. ... Voters at the voting booths in the US in 1945 Voting systems are methods (algorithms) for groups of people to select one or more options from many, taking into account the individual preferences of the group members. ... Proportional representation (sometimes referred to as full representation, or PR), is a category of electoral formula aiming at a close match between the percentage of votes that groups of candidates (grouped by a certain measure) obtain in elections and the percentage of seats they receive (usually in legislative assemblies). ... A points method ballot design like this one is the most common for governmental elections using cumulative voting. ... Party-list proportional representation systems are a family of voting systems used in multiple-winner elections (e. ... Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the (by the political party itself supplied) order in which party candidates are elected. ... Closed list describes the variant of party_list proportional representation where voters can (effectively) only vote for political parties as a whole and thus have no influence on the (party-supplied) order in which party candidates are elected. ... The DHondt method (mathematically but not operationally equivalent to Jeffersons method, and Budder-Ofer method) is a highest averages method for allocating seats in party-list proportional representation. ... The highest averages method is one way of allocating seats proportionally for representative assemblies with party list voting systems. ... The largest remainder method is one way of allocating seats proportionally for representative assemblies with party list voting systems. ... The Sainte-Laguë method of the highest average (equivalent to Websters method or divisor method with standard rounding) is one way of allocating seats proportionally for representative assemblies with party list voting systems. ... This STV ballot for the Australian Senate illustrates group voting tickets. ... The Quota Borda System or Quota Preference Score was devised by the british philosopher Michael Dummett and first published in 1984 in his book, Voting Procedures, and again in his Principles of Electoral Reform in 1997. ... The matrix vote can be used when one group of people wishes to elect a smaller number of persons, each of whom is to have a different assignment. ... 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. ... Parallel voting describes a mixed voting system where voters in effect participate in two separate elections using different systems, and where the results in one election have little or no impact on the results of the other. ... A points method ballot design like this one is the most common for governmental elections using cumulative voting. ... The Single Non-Transferable Vote or SNTV is an electoral system used in multi-member constituency elections. ... Bloc voting (or block voting) refers to a class of voting systems which can be used to elect several representatives from a single multimember constituency. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Sortition, also known as allotment, is a fair method of selection by some form of lottery such as drawing coloured pebbles from a bag. ... A voting system is a means of choosing between a number of options, based on the input of a number of voters. ... A legislator (or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. ... A legislatureis a type of representative deliberative assembly with the power to ratify laws. ... Proportional representation (sometimes referred to as full representation, or PR), is a category of electoral formula aiming at a close match between the percentage of votes that groups of candidates (grouped by a certain measure) obtain in elections and the percentage of seats they receive (usually in legislative assemblies). ... A constituency is any cohesive corporate unit or body bound by shared structures, goals or loyalty. ... 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. ... Parallel voting describes a mixed voting system where voters in effect participate in two separate elections using different systems, and where the results in one election have little or no impact on the results of the other. ...

Use

MMP is currently in use in:

• Bolivia
  • Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados), the lower house
• Venezuela
  • National Assembly of Venezuela (Asamblea Nacional)
• Germany
  • Bundestag, the federal lower house
  • all state parliaments except Saarland, Bremen and Hamburg, but it is being introduced in Hamburg, see Hamburg Voting System.
• Lesotho
  • National Assembly, the lower house
• New Zealand
  • House of Representatives, unicameral (see Electoral system of New Zealand)
• South Africa
  • Municipal elections
• United Kingdom
  • Scottish Parliament, unicameral
  • National Assembly for Wales, unicameral
  • London Assembly

The unicameral National Assembly of Hungary has a complex voting system that results in a less proportional representation than MMP but more proportional than Parallel voting. The National Congress (Spanish: Congreso Nacional) is the national legislature of Bolivia, based in the capital of La Paz. ... A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. ... The National Assembly (Spanish Asamblea Nacional) is the current legislative branch of the Venezuelan government. ... 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. ... A map displaying todays federations. ... Germany is a Federal Republic made up of 16 States, known in German as Länder (singular Land). ... The National Assembly of Lesotho is the lower chamber of the countrys bicameral Parliament. ... The New Zealand House of Representatives is the legislature of New Zealand. ... Unicameralism is the practice of having only one legislative or parliamentary chamber. ... In 1993 New Zealand adopted Mixed Member Proportional as its electoral system after many years of first-past-the-post. ... The 2006 South African municipal elections were held on March 1, 2006, to elect members to the local governing councils in the municipalities of South Africa. ... For the national legislative body up to 1707, see Parliament of Scotland. ... Established 1999 by the Government of Wales Act 1998 Presiding Officer Lord Elis-Thomas AM (Plaid) Since May 12, 1999 Deputy Presiding Officer Rosemary Butler AM (Lab) Leader of the House Carwyn Jones AM (Lab) Chief Executive and Clerk to the Assembly Claire Clancy Political parties 6 Welsh Labour (26... The London Assembly is an elected body that supervises the Greater London Authority and the Mayor of London. ... The National Assembly of Hungary (Országgyűlés) is the national parliament of Hungary. ... Parallel voting describes a mixed voting system where voters in effect participate in two separate elections using different systems, and where the results in one election have little or no impact on the results of the other. ...

Proposals for use

United Kingdom

In 1976, the Hansard Society recommended that MMP in a form different from the German be used for UK parliamentary elections, but instead of using closed party lists, it proposed that seats be filled by defeated candidates, on the 'best runner-up' basis used by the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg. The system was eventually adopted without that provision in parts of Britain. Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Hansard Society was formed in 1944 to promote parliamentary democracy. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

A similar system was proposed by the Independent Commission in 1999, known as Alternative Vote plus (AV+). This would have involved the use of the Alternative Vote for electing members from single-member constituencies, and regional party lists. However, contrary to the Labour Party's earlier manifesto promises, there was not a referendum before the 2001 general election and the statement was not repeated. The Independent Commission on the Voting System, popularly known as the Jenkins Commission after its chairman Roy Jenkins, was a commission into possible reform of the United Kingdom electoral system. ... This article is about the year. ... When the single transferable vote voting system is applied to a single-winner election it is sometimes called instant-runoff voting (IRV), as it is much like holding a series of runoff elections in which the lowest polling candidate is eliminated in each round until someone receives majority vote. ... The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom. ... Tony Blair William Hague Charles Kennedy The UK general election, 2001 was held on 7 June 2001 and was dubbed the quiet landslide by the media. ...

The MMP system in use in the London Assembly would have been used for the other proposed regional assemblies of England, but this process has stalled since the No vote in the Northern England referendums in 2004. Regional Assembly is a title which has universally been adopted by the English bodies established as regional chambers under the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... The three northern regions. ...

Canada

In March 2004 the Law Commission of Canada proposed a system of MMP for the Canadian House of Commons [1] but that proposal has not been adopted. The Law Commission is an independent body set up by Parliament in 1965 to keep the law of England and Wales under review and recommend necessary reforms. ... Type Lower House Speaker Peter Milliken, Liberal since January 29, 2001 Leader of the Government in the House of Commons Peter Van Loan, Conservative since January 4, 2007 Opposition House Leader Ralph Goodale, Liberal since January 23, 2006 Members 308 Political groups Conservative Party Liberal Party Bloc Québécois...

A proposal to adopt MMP for elections to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island was defeated in a plebiscite there on November 28, 2005. The Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island is one of two parts of the General Assembly, the other being the Lieutenant-Governor. ...

In 2007 the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform in Ontario, Canada, also recommended the use of MMP in future elections to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, with a ballot similar to New Zealand's. A binding referendum on the proposal, held in conjunction with the provincial election on 10 October 2007, saw it heavily defeated. The Government of the Province of Ontario, Canada, established a Citizens Assembly on Electoral Reform in March 2006. ... Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Official languages English (de facto) Government Lieutenant-Governor David C. Onley Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Federal representation in Canadian Parliament House seats 107 Senate seats 24 Confederation July 1, 1867 (1st) Area... The Provincial Parliament of Ontario, is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario. ... Results of the Referendum by Riding An Ontario electoral reform referendum was held on October 10, 2007, in an attempt to establish a mixed member proportional representation (MMP) system for elections to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. ... The Ontario general election of 2007 is scheduled to be held on October 10, 2007 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada. ...

Procedures

Ballot for electoral district 252, Würzburg, for the 2005 German federal election. Constituency vote on left, party list vote on right.

The voter makes two votes: one for a constituency representative and one for a party (or, with open-list in Bavaria, for one of the party's list candidates). In the original variant used at first in Germany, still used by two States of Germany, both votes were combined into one, so that voting for a representative automatically means also voting for the representative's party. Most of Germany changed to the two-vote variant to make local MPs more personally accountable. For example, in New Zealand's last election 20% of local MPs were elected from electorates which gave a different party a plurality of votes. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (792x1504, 460 KB) Beschreibung: Stimmzettel zur Bundestagswahl 2005, Wahlkreis 252 Würzburg Quelle: selbst fotografiert Fotograf: Christian VisualBeo Horvat Datum: 31. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (792x1504, 460 KB) Beschreibung: Stimmzettel zur Bundestagswahl 2005, Wahlkreis 252 Würzburg Quelle: selbst fotografiert Fotograf: Christian VisualBeo Horvat Datum: 31. ... German federal elections took place on September 18, 2005 to elect the members of the 16th German Bundestag, the federal parliament of Germany. ...

In each constituency, the representative is chosen using a single winner method, typically first-past-the-post (that is, the candidate with the most votes, by plurality, wins). The first-past-the-post electoral system is a voting system for single-member districts, variously called first-past-the-post (FPTP or FPP), winner-take-all, plurality voting, or relative majority. ... For the use of the term in political theory, see Pluralism (political theory). ...

On the regional or national level (i.e. above the constituency level) three different methods have been used:

• The total number of seats in the assembly are allocated to parties proportionally to the number of votes the party received in the party portion of the ballot. Subtracted from each party's allocation is the number of constituency seats that party won. The number of seats remaining allocated to that party are filled using the party's list. If a candidate is on the party list, but wins a constituency seat, they do not receive two seats; they are instead crossed off the party list and replaced with the next candidate down (this is common to all forms of MMP using closed lists).
• Alternatively, in the British model, a highest averages method is used to allocate list seats only, but the number of seats already won in the constituencies is taken into account in determining the quotients used in the calculations for the list seats.
• In the Italian model of MMP (used 1993-2005), like the British only partly proportional with PR applied to list seats only, for every constituency seat won by a party that party's vote total is reduced by the number of votes received by the second-place candidate in the constituency, subject to the condition that the deduction cannot be less than 25% of the total vote cast in the constituency, unless this would make the deduction larger than the number of votes received by the winning candidate, in which case that candidate's total vote is subtracted.

The highest averages method is one way of allocating seats proportionally for representative assemblies with party list voting systems. ...

Overhang seats

Because a party can gain fewer seats by the party vote than needed to justify the won constituency seats, overhang seats can occur, though not in the British and Italian models because proportional allocation is applied only to list seats. There are different ways of dealing with overhang seats. Overhang seats can arise in elections under mixed member proportional (MMP), when a party is entitled to fewer seats as a result of party votes than it has won constituencies. ...

In Germany's Bundestag and the New Zealand House of Representatives the overhang seats remain. In most German states the other parties also receive extra seats ("balance seats") to restore proportionality. Both cases raise the total number of seats. 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. ...

For example, in New Zealand's 2005 General Election the Māori Party won 2.1% of the Party Vote, entitling them to 3 seats in the House, but won 4 "electorates" (constituencies), leaving an overhang of 1 seat, which results in a 121-member house. If the party vote for the Māori Party had been more in proportion with the constituency seats won, there would have more likely been a normal 120-member house. Wikinews has news related to: Results of the 2005 New Zealand General Election The 2005 New Zealand general election took place on 17 September 2005 and determined the composition of the 48th New Zealand Parliament. ... The Māori Party, a political party in New Zealand based around Māori citizens, formed around Tariana Turia, a former Labour Party member who had been a New Zealand Cabinet minister in the current Labour-dominated coalition government. ...

Threshold

In order to be eligible for list seats in the New Zealand and German systems, a party must either earn at least 5% of the total party vote or must win at least one constituency seat (three constituency seats in Germany). If neither of the two conditions are met, no candidates from the party list are chosen. Candidates having won a constituency will still have won their seat. In Bolivia the threshold is 3%. Having a member with a 'safe' constituency seat is therefore a tremendous asset to a minor party in New Zealand. In almost all elections in the UK there are no thresholds except the "effective threshold" inherent in the regional structure. However the elections for the London Assembly have a threshold of 5% which has at times denied seats to the Christian People's Alliance (in the 2000 election), the British National Party and the Respect - The Unity Coalition (both in the 2004 election). The London Assembly is an elected body that supervises the Greater London Authority and the Mayor of London. ... Logo of the Christian Peoples Alliance The Christian Peoples Alliance is a minor political party operating in the United Kingdom. ... The first elections for members of the London Assembly were held on 4 May 2000, alongside the first mayoral election. ... The British National Party (BNP) is a white nationalist political party in the United Kingdom. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... An election to the Assembly of London took place on June 10, 2004, along with the London mayoral election, 2004. ...

Potential for tactical voting

In terms of tactical voting, the vote for the constituency representative is normally much less important (than the party vote) in determining the overall result of an election; but in some cases a party may be so certain of winning seats in the constituency elections that it expects no extra seats in the proportional top-up. Some voters may therefore seek to get a double representation by voting tactically and splitting their votes, though this runs the risk of unintended consequences. 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. ...

In systems with a threshold, tactical voting for a minor party that is predicted to poll slightly below the threshold is relatively common, especially by voters who are afraid that the minor party missing the threshold would weaken the larger political camp that the minor party belongs to. For example the German moderate-right Free Democratic Party (FDP) has often received votes from voters who preferred the larger Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, because they feared that if the FDP received less than five percent of the votes, the conservative camp would be weakened so much that the CDU wouldn't be able to form a government. Conversely, in New Zealand, some voters who preferred a large party have voted for the minor party's local candidate to ensure it qualifies for seats. In the latter case the tactic does not distort the outcome but makes it more proportional by by-passing the 5% threshold. In the former it also ensures that votes are not wasted, but at the cost of giving the FDP more seats than CDU voters would really have preferred. The FDP and other smaller parties campaigned to lower the threshold to the 4% used in Scandinavia and Austria, which might have succeeded except for the fear of resurgence of neo-nazi parties.

Decoy lists

Political parties can also abuse the system. They can separate their party in two. One contests the electorates seats, the other contests for the list seats. This will produce an overhang. They can co-ordinate their campaign and work together within the legislature, while remaining legally separate entities. This can also give other advantages in areas such as party funding. Overhang seats can arise in elections under mixed member proportional (MMP), when a party is entitled to fewer seats as a result of party votes than it has won constituencies. ...

For instance in the 2001 Italian elections, the two main coalitions (the House of Freedoms and the Olive Tree) linked many of their constituency candidates to decoy lists (liste civetta) in the proportional parts, under the names Abolizione Scorporo and Paese Nuovo respectively, so that if they won constituencies then they would not reduce the number of proportional seats received by the coalitions. Between them, the two decoy lists won 360 of the 475 constituency seats, more than half of the 630 total number of seats, despite winning a combined total of less than 0.2% of the national proportional part of the vote. In the case of Forza Italia (part of the House of Freedoms), the tactic was so successful that it did not have enough candidates in the proportional part to receive as many seats as it in fact won, missing out on 12 seats. Casa delle Libertà (CDL; Italian for House of Freedoms), was a major Italian center-right political alliance led by Silvio Berlusconi. ... For the Italian political alliance see Olive Tree, and the color, olive (color). ... Forza Italia (Forward Italy, FI) [1] is an Italian political party. ...

Decoy lists are not used in most countries using MMP, where most voters vote for candidates from parties with long-standing names.

Voter understanding

There is some evidence that many Scottish voters did not understand the implications of the system. In the first election for Scotland's new Parliament, the majority of voters surveyed misunderstood some key aspects of the difference there between the "first" (constituency) vote and the "second" (regional list) vote; indeed in some ways the understanding worsened in the second election. The Arbuthnott Commission found references to first and second votes fuelled a misperception that the constituency vote should be a first preference and the regional vote a second one. That misperception was not helped by the Green Party's tactic of running only regional candidates and appealing for "second votes."

In New Zealand the party vote is the first vote. In Scotland, to deal with the misunderstanding between "first" and "second" votes, the ballot for the latest Scottish Parliament election was changed as recommended by the Arbuthnott Commission. The British government announced on 22 November 2006 that the two separate ballot papers used in previous Scottish Parliament elections would be replaced for the elections in May 2007 by a single paper — with the left side listing the parties standing for election as regional MSPs and the right side the candidates standing as constituency MSPs.

However, the detailed results of the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, 2003 (shown in the table above) show the confusion was about "first" and "second" votes, creating an average of 28% wrong answers:

See also

• List of democracy and elections-related topics
• Voting system
• Leveling seat
• [2] Mudambi, R. and Navarra, P. 2004. Electoral Strategies in Mixed Systems of Representation. European Journal of Political Economy, Vol.20, No.1, pp. 227-253.

Politics is the process and method of gaining or maintaining support for public or common action: the conduct of decision-making for groups. ... A voting system is a means of choosing between a number of options, based on the input of a number of voters. ... Leveling seats (utjevningsmandater) are a mechanism employed in Norwegian elections to the national legislature, the Storting, and in Swedish elections to national and regional assemblies, to ensure proportional representation both by county and political party. ...

External links

• ACE Project: Germany, the cradle of MMPR
• A Handbook of Electoral System Design from International IDEA
• Electoral Design Reference Materials from the ACE Project
• Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, 2003.