Open list


Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected. This is as opposed to closed list, which allows only active members, party officials, or consultants to determine the order of its candidates and gives the general voter no influence at all on the position of the candidates placed on the party list. Additionally, an open list system allows voters to select individuals rather than parties. Different systems give voter different amounts of influence. Voter's choice is usually called preference vote.

Systems

Relatively closed

A "relatively closed" open list system is one where a candidate must get a full 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 original list.

More open

In a 'more open' list system, the quota for election 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.
Example: A party list got 5000 votes. If the quota is 1000 votes, then the party wins five seats.
Candidate position
on the list		Preference votes25% of the quotaElected
#13500x x
#250x
#3150x
#4250x x
#5100
#6100
#7450x x
#850
......-

Candidates #1, #7 and #4 have each achieved 25% of the quota. 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, at the national level only one or two candidates succeed to precede on their lists as 25% of the national quota means a huge number of votes. This happens more often at the local level where the quota is lower. Parties usually allow candidates to ask for preference votes, but without campaigning negatively against other candidates on the list.
A country could introduce a version of a more open list voting system allowing parties to choose a small number of candidates to be guaranteed to be selected first This solves the problem of major party figures being prevented from taking office, yet still allows the vast majority of party candidates' order on the party list to be decided by the voters.

Austria

The members of the National Council are elected by open list proportional representation in nine multi-member constituencies based on the states and 39 sub-constituencies. Voters are able to cast a party vote and one preference votes on each 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. Candidates for sub-constituency level are listed on the ballot while voters need to write-in their preferred candidate on state and federal level.

Croatia

In Croatia, 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.

Czechia

In Czech 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. For elections to the European Parliament, the procedure is identical but each voter is only allowed 2 preference votes.

Indonesia

In Indonesia, any candidate who has obtained at least 30% of the quota is automatically elected.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the voter can give their vote to any candidate in a list ; the vote for this candidate is called a "preference vote". If a candidate has at least 25% of the quota then he/she takes priority over the party's other candidates who stand higher on the party list but received fewer preference votes. Most people vote for the top 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. Many women, 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 the 2003 elections Hilbrand Nawijn, the former minister of migration and integration was elected into parliament for the Pim Fortuyn List by preference votes even though he was the last candidate on the list.

Slovakia

In Slovakia, 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 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 the European election in 2009 three of Slovakia's thirteen MEPs were elected solely by virtue of preference votes and only one was elected solely by virtue of her position on the party list.

Sweden

In Sweden, the 'most open' list is used, but a person needs to receive 5% of the party's votes for the personal vote to overrule the ordering on the party list. 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.

Most open

The 'most open' list system is the one where the absolute number of votes every candidate receives fully determines the "order of election".
When such a system is used, one could make the case that within every party an additional virtual single non-transferable vote election is taking place.
This system is used in all Finnish, Latvian, and Brazilian multiple-seat elections. While ties may be resolved by a coin toss in Finland, the oldest candidate wins the tie in Brazil. Since 2001, lists of this 'most open' type have also used in the elections to fill the 96 proportional seats in the 242-member upper house of Japan.

Free or panachage

A 'free list', more usually called panachage, is similar in principle to the most open list, but instead of having just one vote for one candidate in one list, an elector has as many votes as there are seats to be filled, and may distribute these among different candidates in different lists. Electors may also give more votes to one candidate, in a manner similar to cumulative voting, and delete the names of some candidates. This gives the elector more control over which candidates are elected.
It is used in elections at all levels in Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, in congressional elections in Ecuador, El Salvador, and Honduras, as well as in local elections in a majority of German states, in French communes with under 1,000 inhabitants, and in Czech municipal elections.

Practical operation

Some ways to operate an open list system when using traditional paper-based voting are as follows:
Some of these states may use other systems in addition to open list. For example, open list may decide only upper house legislative elections while another electoral system is used for lower house elections.

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