Electoral district

This article is about areas forming a single electorate. For subdivisions of such an area, seeElectoral precinctandPolling station.

"Constituency" redirects here. For other uses, seeConstituency (disambiguation).

Anelectoral(congressional,legislative,etc.)district,sometimes called aconstituency,riding,orward,is a subdivision of a largerstate(acountry,administrative region,or otherpolity) created to provide its population with representation in the larger state'slegislature.That body, or the state's constitution or a body established for that purpose, determines each district's boundaries and whether each will be represented by asingle memberor multiple members. Generally, onlyvoters(constituents) whoresidewithin the district are permitted to vote in anelectionheld there. District representatives may be elected by afirst-past-the-postsystem, aproportional representativesystem, or anothervoting method.They may be selected by adirect electionunderuniversal suffrage,anindirect election,or another form ofsuffrage.

Terminology

Further information:Lists of electoral districts by country and territory

National and supranational representatives from electoral districts typically have offices in their respective districts. This photo shows the office of a Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom.

The names for electoral districts vary across countries and, occasionally, for the office being elected. The termconstituencyis commonly used to refer to an electoral district, especially inBritish English,but it can also refer to the body of eligible voters or all the residents of the represented area or only those who voted for a certain candidate.

The terms(election) precinctandelection districtare more common inAmerican English.

InCanadian English,the termis used, especially officially, but is also colloquially and more commonly known as aridingorconstituency.In some parts of Canada,constituencyis used for provincial districts andridingfor federal districts. In colloquialCanadian French,they are calledcomtés( "counties" ), whilecirconscriptionscomtésis the legal term.

InAustralia and New Zealand,Electoral districts are calledelectorates,however elsewhere the termelectorategenerally refers specifically to the body of voters.

InIndia,electoral districts are referred to as "Nirvācan Kṣetra"(Hindi:निर्वाचन क्षेत्र) inHindi,which can be translated to English as "electoral area" though the official English translation for the term is "constituency". The term "Nirvācan Kṣetra" is used while referring to an electoral district in general irrespective of the legislature. When referring to a particular legislative constituency, it is simply referred to as "Kṣetra" along with the name of the legislature, in Hindi (e.g. 'Lok Sabha Kshetra' for aLok Sabhaconstituency). Electoral districts for buli municipal or other local bodies are called "wards".

Local electoral districts are sometimes calledwards,a term also used for administrative subdivisions of a municipality. However, in theRepublic of Ireland,voting districts are calledlocal electoral areas.

District magnitude

District magnitudeis a term invented by the American political scientistDouglas W. Raein his 1967dissertationThe Political Consequences of Electoral Laws.It refers to the number of seats assigned to each district, and thus helping determine the number of seats to be filled in any election. Staggered terms are sometimes used to reduce the number of seats up for election at any one time, when district magnitude is more than one. The number of seats up for election varies the ease or difficulty to be elected, as the thresholdde factodecreases in proportion as the number of seats being filled increases, unless a pro-landslide voting system is used such as general ticket voting.

The concept of magnitude explainsDuverger's observationthat single-winner contests tend to producetwo-party systems,andproportional representation(PR) methods tend to producemulti-party systems.

District magnitude is minimal (exactly 1) in plurality voting insingle-member districts(First-past-the-post votingused in most cases). As well, where multi-member districts are used, thresholdde factostays high if seats are filled bygeneral ticketor other pro-landslide party block system (rarely used nationwide nowadays).

In such situations each voter has one vote.

District magnitude is larger than 1 where multiple members are elected -plural districts), and underplurality block voting(where voter may cast as many votes as the number of seats to be filled),proportional representationorsingle transferable voteelections (where the voter casts just one vote). In STV elections DM normally range from 2 to 10 members in a district. But 21 are elected in a single contest conducted through STV in New South Wales (Australia). In list PR systems DM may exceed 100.

District magnitude is maximized where:

• jurisdictions with a single electoral district for the whole elected body (at-large voting). This includes the legislatures of:the Netherlands(1 district for 13 million and 150 seats),Mozambique(13 million, 250 seats),Serbia(6.584 million, 250 seats),Israel(9.862 million, 120 seats),Slovakia(4.4 million, 150 seats), andMoldova(3 million, 101 seats). In each of these cases, it takes less than a percentage point of the nation's electorate to capture a seat.
• systems use a two-tier form ofparty-list proportional representation,using both local multi-member constituencies (of various district magnitudes and seat-to-vote disproportions), and nationalleveling seats,when the nationwide results have priority (Mixed-Member Proportional). That is the case in Scandinavia:Sweden(6.53 million, 349 seats, seenational apportionment of MP seats in the Riksdagarticle),Denmark(4.2 million, 179 seats),Norway(3.7 million, 169 seats), andIceland(0.2 million, 63 seats). Since 2017, Germany'sBundestagis also made up ofadditional membersmeant to make up for imbalances in the number of MPs (members of parliament) by state caused byoverhang seats.New Zealand also uses MMP.

DM is moderate where districts break up the electorate or where relatively few members overall are elected, even if the election is held at-large.

District magnitude may be set at an equal number of seats in each district. Examples include: all districts of theNorthern Ireland Assemblyelected 6 members (5 members since 2017); all those of theParliament of Maltasend 5 MPs; Chile, between 1989 and 2013, used a method calledbinomial voting,which assigned 2 MPs to each district.

In many cases, however, multi-member constituencies correspond to already existing jurisdictions (regions, districts, wards, cities, counties, states or provinces), which creates differences in district magnitude from district to district:

• Republic of Irelandfor theDáil Éireann:3-, 4-, and 5-member districts. (STV is used)
• Hong Kongfor half of theLegislative Council of Hong Kong:5- to 9-member districts.
• TheNew Hampshire House of Representatives:1- to 10-member districts (Plurality block votingis used).
• South Africa26.7 million registered people and 400 seats (with 200 filled in nine provincial party lists and 200 elected according to PR. Provincial representation in the National Assembly, elected in province-wide districts, ranges from 5 seats in the Northern Cape to 48 seats in Gauteng.

The concept of district magnitude helps explains why Duverger's speculated correlation between proportional representation and party systemfragmentationhas many counter-examples, as PR methods combined with small-sized multi-member constituencies may produce a loweffective number of parties.Malta with only two major parties is a stark example of divergence from Duverger's rule.

In a system where the intent is to avoid the waste of votes, a set proportion of votes, as a minimum, assures the election of a candidate. This is set as the inverse of the district magnitude plus one, plus one, theDroop quota.Droop is the mathematical threshold that is the mathematical minimum whereby no more will be elected than there are seats to be filled. It ensures election in contests where all votes are used to elect someone. (Probabilistic threshold should include the likely number of votes wasted to minor lists). For instance, a 10%-polling party will not win a seat in a 5-member district (Droop quota of 1/6=16.67%) but will do so in a 10-member district as its 10 percent of the vote exceeds the Droop quota in such a district (1/11=9%). In systems where a noticeable number of votes are wasted, such as Single non-transferable voting or Instant-runoff voting where transferable votes are used but voters are prohibited from ranking all candidates, you will see candidates win with less than Droop.

STV is intended to avoid waste of votes by the use of transferable votes but even in STV, if the rules permit voters not to rank all the candidates or prevent them from ranking all the candidates, some votes are declared exhausted. Thus it is common for one or two members in a district to be elected without attaining Droop.

Larger district magnitudes means larger districts, so annihilate the need and practice ofgerrymandering,Gerrymandering is the practice of partisan redistricting by means of creating imbalances in the make-up of the district map, made easier by a multitude of micro-small districts. A higher magnitude means less wasted votes, and less room for such maneuvers. As well, a fair voting system in the district contests also means that gerrymandering is ineffective because each party gets their fair share of seats however districts are drawn, at least theoretically.

Multiple-member contests sometimes useplurality block voting,which allows the single largest group to take all the district seats. Each voter having just one vote in a multi-member district, Single voting, a component of mostparty-list proportional representationmethods as well assingle non-transferable voteandsingle transferable vote,prevents such a landslide.

Minorities

High district magnitude is a major factor in the inclusion ofminorities.

Plurality (and other elections with lower district magnitudes) are known to limit the representation of minorities.John Stuart Millhad endorsedproportional representation(PR) and STV in the mid-19th century precisely to respond to this shortcoming.

With lower district magnitudes, the only way to include demographic minorities scattered across the country is to force parties to include them:

• women: somegender quotasmay compel registered parties to a certain sex ratio between the candidates they put forward insingle-seat districts.Zippered or gender-balanced party lists can be forced where multiple-member districts are used. Gender quotas can also be an internal policy, as the one used by theLabour Partysince 1995 (seeall-women shortlist).
• ethnic groups:
  • such a system is in use inSingaporewhich requires one team member (at least) to be of a different race from the others. This is the system of the numerically dominantgroup representation constituencies.
  • in the United States, the Supreme Court ruled that districts should be drawn to create a number ofminority-majority districtsproportional to the minority population of the area (seemajority minority in the United States). This is an implicit, not explicit requirement, based onzoning.
  • in New Zealand, theMāori electorateshave been in use for over a century so that voters of Māori extraction can elect their own MPs; contrary to the US' solution, the Māori electorates overlap the generic electorates. And unlike the US, the distinction between ethnicities is explicit.

Large district magnitudes increase the chance for diverse walks of life and minority groups to be elected. However, it is not synonymous with proportional representation. The use of "general ticket voting" prevents the multiple-member representation of the district from being mixed and balanced. Where list PR is used in the district, aclosed listPR method gives the party machine, not the voters, the power to arrange the candidates on the party list. In this case, a large district magnitude helps minorities only if the party machine of any party chooses to include them. In a multi-member district where general ticket voting is not used, there is a natural impetus for a party to open itself to minority voters, if they have enough numbers to be significant, due to the competitive environment produced by the electoral system.

Apportionment and redistricting

Main articles:ApportionmentandRedistricting

Apportionmentis the process of allocating a number of representatives to different regions, such as states or provinces. Apportionment changes are often accompanied byredistricting,the redrawing of electoral district boundaries to accommodate the new number of representatives. This redrawing is necessary under single-member district systems, as each new representative requires their own district. Multi-member systems, however, vary depending on other rules. Ireland, for example, redraws its electoral districts after everycensuswhileBelgiumuses its existing administrative boundaries for electoral districts and instead modifies the number of representatives allotted to each.Israeland theNetherlandsare among the few countries that avoid the need for apportionment entirely by electing legislatorsat-large.

Apportionment is generally done on the basis ofpopulation.Seats in theUnited States House of Representatives,for instance, are reapportioned to individual states every 10 years following a census, with some states that have grown in population gaining seats. By contrast, seats in theCantonal Council of Zürichare reapportioned in every electionbased on the number of votes cast in each district,which is only made possible by use of multi-member districts, and theHouse of Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina,by contrast, is apportioned without regard to population; the three major ethnic groups –Bosniaks,Serbs,andCroats– each get exactly five members.Malapportionmentoccurs when voters are under- or over-represented due to variation in district population.

In some places, geographical area is allowed to affect apportionment, with rural areas with sparse populations allocated more seats per elector: for example in Iceland, the Falkland Islands, Scottish islands, and (partly) in US Senate elections.

Gerrymandering

Main article:Gerrymandering

Gerrymanderingis the manipulation of electoral district boundaries for political gain. By creating a few "forfeit" districts where opposing candidates win overwhelmingly, gerrymandering politicians can manufacture more, but narrower, wins for themselves and their party. Gerrymandering relies on thewasted-vote effect,effectively concentrating wasted votes among opponents while minimizing wasted votes among supporters. Consequently, gerrymandering is typically done under voting systems using single-member districts, which have more wasted votes.

While much more difficult, gerrymandering can also be done under proportional-voting systems when districts elect very few seats. By making three-member districts in regions where a particular group has a slight majority, for instance, gerrymandering politicians can obtain 2/3 of that district's seats. Similarly, by making four-member districts in regions where the same group has slightly less than a majority, gerrymandering politicians can still secure exactly half of the seats.

However, any possible gerrymandering that theoretically could occur would be much less effective because minority groups can still elect at least one representative if they make up a significant percentage of the population (e.g. 20–25%), compared to single-member districts where 40–49% of the voters can be essentially shut out from any representation.

Swing seats and safe seats

Main articles:Marginal seatandSafe seat

Sometimes, particularly under non-proportional winner-take-all voting systems, elections can be prone tolandslide victories.As the result in each district is not related to votes cast outside the district (suach as overall party popularity), and as often a candidate supported by only a minority of the votes cast in the district are elected, leaving many or most of the votes cast wasted, a moderate plurality of say 34 percent can be enough to take a landslide majority government.

The District-basis ofFirst past the post votingelections means that parties can categorize districts by whether they are likely winnable or should be written off.

Asafe seatis one that seems very unlikely to be won by a rival politician based on theconstituency's past voting record or polling results.

Conversely, aswing seatis one that could easilyswingeither way - the party that currently hold it may lose it and a party that wants to win it may be able to take it away from its present holder. InUnited Kingdom general electionsandUnited Statespresidential and congressional elections, the voting in a relatively small number of swing seats usually determines the outcome of the entire election. Parties aspire to have as many safe seats as possible, and high-level politicians, such as prime minsters, prefer to run in safe seats.

In large multi-party systems likeIndia,a shift in election results, sometimes caused by swing votes, can lead to no party taking a majority of seats, hence ahung assemblylike situation. This may arise from a significant number of seats going to regional parties instead of the larger national parties which are the main competitors at the national or state level, as was the situation in theLok Sabha(Lower house of theParliament of India) during the 1990s.

Constituency work

Elected representatives may spend much of the time serving the needs or demands of individualconstituents,meaning either voters or residents of their district. This is more common in assemblies with many single-member or small districts than those with fewer, larger districts. In a looser sense, corporations and other such organizations can be referred to as constituents, if they have a significant presence in an area.

Many assemblies allow free postage (throughfranking privilegeor prepaid envelopes) from a representative to a constituent, and often free telecommunications.Caseworkersmay be employed by representatives to assist constituents with problems. Members of theU.S. Congress(both Representatives and Senators) working in Washington, D.C., have a governmentally staffed district office to aid in constituent services. Many state legislatures have followed suit. Likewise,British MPsuse their Parliamentary staffing allowance to appoint staff for constituency casework.Client politicsandpork barrelpolitics are associated with constituency work.

Special constituencies with additional membership requirements

Main article:Reserved political positions

In some elected assemblies, some or all constituencies may group voters based on some criterion other than, or in addition to, the location they live. Examples include:

• By ethnic groups:Communal constituenciesin Fiji;reserved seats in IndiaforAnglo-Indiansandscheduled castes and scheduled tribes;Māori electoratesin New Zealand.
• By qualification:University constituencyin Ireland and formerly the United Kingdom,functional constituencyin Hong Kong.
• By residence outside the country:Overseas constituenciesinFranceandItaly.

Voting without constituencies

Not all democratic political systems use separate districts or other electoral subdivisions to conduct elections.Israel,for instance, conducts parliamentary elections as a single district. The 26 electoral districts inItalyand the 20 in theNetherlandshave a role in the actual election, but no role whatsoever in the division of the seats.Ukraineelected half of theVerkhovna Rada(the Ukrainian Parliament) in this way in theelections in October 2012.

See also

• Gerrymanderingconstituency boundary manipulation for political gain
• Multi-member districts in the United States