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Home <https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/> > Latest News and Research
<https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/latest-news-and-research/> > News and
Comment <https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/latest-news-and-research/blog/>
 > Which European countries use proportional representation?
Which European countries use proportional representation?[image: Which
countries in Europe use PR_]
[image: Michela Palese]
*Author:*
Michela Palese

Posted on the 26th December 2018----Hi from peter  croves--I came across
this and I thought it to be a good read.,only Belarus, UK, France, still
have a  non PR voting system

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   <https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/category/electoral-reform/>


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Of the 43 countries most often considered to be within Europe, 40 use some
form of proportional representation
<https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/voting-systems/what-are-voting-systems/proportional-representation/>
to
elect their MPs.

The UK stands almost alone in Europe in using a ‘one-person-takes-all’
disproportionate voting system. If we exclude the authoritarian state of
Belarus – “Europe’s only remaining outpost of tyranny”
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17941131> – France is the only
other European country to use a ‘one-person-takes-all’ system (the Two-Round
System
<https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/voting-systems/types-of-voting-system/two-round-system/>
).
*Proportional voting systems used for national elections in Europe*
*Type of PR or Mixed Voting System**Countries in which it is used*
Party List Proportional Representation
<https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/voting-systems/types-of-voting-system/party-list-pr/>
*31
– *Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Latvia,
Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland,
Portugal, Republic of Moldova, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland
Single Transferable Vote
<https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/voting-systems/types-of-voting-system/single-transferable-vote/>
*2*

Ireland and Malta
Mixed Member Proportional Representation
<https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/voting-systems/types-of-voting-system/additional-member-system/>
(MMP;
also known as Additional Member System) *2 – *Germany and Hungary
Parallel voting/Mixed system *5 – *Andorra, Italy, Lithuania, the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Ukraine

*Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union, *Pauline* Database, https://data.ipu.org/
<https://data.ipu.org/>*
*What type of proportional system do European countries use?*Party List PR

Party List proportional representation
<https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/voting-systems/types-of-voting-system/party-list-pr/>
is
the most widely used form of PR in Europe – 31 countries use it to elect
their MPs.

In Party List systems, constituencies are bigger than under First Past the
Post, and voters elect a group of MPs, rather than a single person. In this
system, voters get MPs roughly in proportion to how many people voted for
each party.

Party List systems differ in the extent to which citizens can choose which
individuals get elected. In ‘closed’ list systems, parties decide who their
candidates are and voters can only mark their support for a party (some
point out that first past the post is a closed party list of one
<https://youtu.be/0fdK8jkYP98>
<http://savefrom.net/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2F0fdK8jkYP98&utm_source=userjs-chrome&utm_medium=extensions&utm_campaign=link_modifier>)
Parties decide which candidates fill the seats they have won in the
election.

In ‘open’ list systems, each party presents a list of candidates, and
citizens can choose which candidate to vote for (or – in some systems –
they can choose to vote just for the party if they want). A vote for a
candidate is counted as a vote for that candidate’s party.

Semi-open list systems are a mix of the above: voters have more choice in
who they can vote for, but – generally – parties can decide the order in
which candidates are elected.
Single Transferable Vote

Ireland and Malta use the Single Transferable Vote
<https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/voting-systems/types-of-voting-system/single-transferable-vote/>
(STV)
to elect their representatives.

As with Party Lists, voters elect a small group of representatives in
bigger areas, like a small city or county, as opposed to a single MP in
small constituencies as we do in Westminster.

STV gives voters maximum choice on who to vote for. Each elector has one
vote. Voters number candidates in order of preference, with a number 1 for
their favorite – they can rank all candidates or just vote for their
preferred candidate.

To get elected, a candidate needs to reach a set amount of votes. This
quota based on the number of seats to be filled and the number of votes
cast (read our explanation
<https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/voting-systems/types-of-voting-system/single-transferable-vote/>
to
find out more about how votes are counted).

If your favorite candidate already has enough votes to win or stands no
chance of winning, your vote is transferred to your next choice based on
how you ranked candidates.

Under STV, voters can choose between candidates from the same or different
parties, which incentivizes parties to stand candidates who reflect the
diversity of society. Electors can also vote for independent candidates,
without worrying about ‘wasting’ their vote.
Under STV, voters can choose between candidates from the same or different
parties, or vote for independent candidates without worrying about
‘wasting’ their vote.
<https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.electoral-reform.org.uk%2Fwhich-european-countries-use-proportional-representation%2F&text=Under%20STV%2C%20voters%20can%20choose%20between%20candidates%20from%20the%20same%20or%20different%20parties%2C%20or%20vote%20for%20independent%20candidates%20without%20worrying%20about%20%E2%80%98wasting%E2%80%99%20their%20vote.&via=electoralreform&related=electoralreform>Click
To Tweet
<https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.electoral-reform.org.uk%2Fwhich-european-countries-use-proportional-representation%2F&text=Under%20STV%2C%20voters%20can%20choose%20between%20candidates%20from%20the%20same%20or%20different%20parties%2C%20or%20vote%20for%20independent%20candidates%20without%20worrying%20about%20%E2%80%98wasting%E2%80%99%20their%20vote.&via=electoralreform&related=electoralreform>Mixed
Member Proportional Representation

Of the seven countries that use a mixed system, two – Germany and Hungary –
elect their representatives with Mixed Member Proportional
<https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/voting-systems/types-of-voting-system/additional-member-system/>
Representation
(MMP), which is also known as the Additional Member System (AMS) in the UK.

MMP is a mix of Westminster’s First Past the Post system and Party List PR
– the goal is to provide a proportional parliament but also keep a single
local MP. Both the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly
<https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/campaigns/welsh-assembly/> use this
system.

Voters have two ballot papers. On the first is a list of candidates who
want to be the local MP. Like a Westminster election, the voter marks their
preferred candidate with a cross and the candidate with the most votes wins
and gets a seat, even if most people didn’t vote for them.

On the second ballot paper is a list of parties who want seats in
parliament. Each party publishes a list of candidates for these elections,
a vote for a party is a vote to make more of their list of candidates into
MPs. Seats are allocated in proportion to the votes a party received in the
election, also taking into account how many ‘first vote’ seats they
obtained. Recent reforms in Hungary
<https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/just-how-popular-is-hungarys-fidesz/> have
made their system considerably less proportional though, while there are
calls to increase the number of ‘list’ seats in Wales
<https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/latest-news-and-research/publications/reshaping-the-senedd/>
to
make the results fairer and more proportional.
Other systems

The remaining five countries (Andorra, Italy, Lithuania, the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Ukraine) combine a number of voting
systems – mainly First Past the Post and List PR. These tend to be less
proportional as the distribution of the List PR seats doesn’t take the
first past the post seats into account.

In Italy, for example, 37% of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies (the
Italian House of Commons) are allocated with First Past the Post, while 63%
are chosen through List PR.
Conclusion

The UK is unique among European countries in terms of its electoral system
– and not in a good way. It’s the only country with a parliamentary system
that uses the outdated, one-person-takes-all First Past the Post
<https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/voting-systems/types-of-voting-system/first-past-the-post/>
 system.

While the List PR systems commonly used in Europe can create parliaments
that closely reflect the opinions of their countries, there is often a
weaker constituency link. Plus, closed list systems generally limit voter
choice.

This is why the ERS favors the Single Transferable Vote
<https://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/voting-systems/types-of-voting-system/single-transferable-vote/>:
this system enhances voter choice and guarantees a strong link between MPs
and voters, while also distributing seats in parliament in a way that is
fair and reflects how people voted. Rather than throwing votes on the
electoral scrapheap as ‘wasted’, STV helps ensure every vote counts and
people’s voices are heard.

It’s time that we caught up with the rest of the world and changed the way
we elect our parliament so it finally reflects public opinion.

On Sun, Nov 22, 2020 at 2:28 AM Peter KH via fvc-wat-disc <
fvc-wat-disc at listserv.thinkers.org> wrote:

> Last meeting I promised links to articles about municipal power. Here are
> some links I found:
> 1)
> https://www.toronto.ca/ext/digital_comm/inquiry/inquiry_site/cd/gg/add_pdf/77/Governance/Electronic_Documents/Other_CDN_Jurisdictions/Powers_of_Canadian_Cities.pdf
> 2)
> http://spacing.ca/toronto/2019/06/21/lorinc-the-myth-of-the-city-charter/
> 3)
> http://spacing.ca/toronto/2019/12/19/in-defense-of-toronto-becoming-a-charter-city/
>
> Article (1) is the most interesting. According to
> https://www.ontario.ca/document/ontario-municipal-councillors-guide-2018/7-councillors-lawmakers#:~:text=Natural%20person%20powers%20give%20municipalities,for%20more%20specific%20legislative%20authority.
> Ontario cities have "natural person powers" but Toronto is still not a
> charter city.
> I haven't yet read the article but this article sounds interesting
> https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4124&context=lcp
>
> FairVote - unrelated public service announcement:
> The region is having a Q&A session about the transit hub on Dec 3rd
>
> https://www.engagewr.ca/king-victoria-transit-hub/news_feed/fall-2020-public-input I
> plan on attending.
>
> Looking forward to the meeting on Wednesday,
> - Peter KH
>
>
> Sent with ProtonMail <https://protonmail.com> Secure Email.
>
> ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
> On Saturday, November 21, 2020 12:48 PM, Cathy Scott <
> cathy.scottfree at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi, All
>
> Here is the Zoom link for our meeting next Wednesday.
> Agenda to follow.
> Cathy
>
> Topic: Waterloo Region FV chapter discussion group
> Time: Nov 25, 2020 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
>
> Join Zoom Meeting
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>
> Meeting ID: 818 8606 4679
> Passcode: 688325
> One tap mobile
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>
>
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