HOW THE SEATS ARE ALLOCATED IN THE ELECTORAL CONSTITUENCIES?

Abstract

The process of allocation of seats to constituencies1

in every country is usually defined as a process of translating
votes into seats. The process itself requires protection of the principle of equality (equal weight of votes) and equal
distribution of seats among the constituencies in a stable and standard ratio, according to several criteria such as, the
number of resident nationals (including minors), the number of residents in the constituencies, the number of
registered electors/ the number of registered voters in the electoral lists. When the allocation of seats among
constituencies is presumed as quite divergent from the objective ratio, than the equal weight of votes (equal
suffrage) is not maintained, but it is often prescribed as a breach. The result of such inequalities of representation is
usually referred to in the electoral practice as gerrymandering, electoral geometry (in its “active”2

and “passive”3

form) or as mallaportionment4
.

Robert Dahl once argued that ‘one-person-one-vote principle’ is inevitable condition for democracy and in a
perfectly apportioned system every vote of the citizen should weigh equally. However, gerrymandering and
malapportionment are common features of democracies at present. There are only a few lower chambers in the
world that satisfies Dahl’s criterion. In other words, lower chambers are typically malapportioned. The paper is
explaining not only the constituencies as an electoral mechanism to translate votes into seats, but also all the
shortcomings which are produced in the elections as a result of an active and passive electoral geometry which have
caused malapportionment and electoral inequality.