Upcoming Iraqi Parliamentary Elections to Use Historic Proportional Voting System
Iraq today began early voting in its second ever proportional voting election, designed to improve upon last January's constitutional convention elections. In this round of elections, Iraq's 18 provinces (or governorates) will elect members of parliament in multi-member superdistricts using a proportional voting method. Under the new system, 230 of 275 seats are allocated to each province based on the province's population, and parties are awarded these provincial seats in direct proportion to their vote in each province. The 45 remaining seats are awarded to smaller parties that did not win seats in any given province but nevertheless won a significant numbers of votes nationally.
A key benefit to this new system is that a group like the Sunnis have a chance to win a fair share of seats - even if fear or discontent drives down turnout a bit. When Iraqis elected delegates to their constitutional convention last January under a national party list system, Sunni Muslims boycotted the vote. Despite comprising about a third of Iraq's population, Sunnis won few seats. For example, the powerful Sunni Iraqis Party garnered only five of 275 seats. Using regional lists will ensure greater Sunni representation this December.
Iraq's electoral system has other features designed to ensure fuller participation and representation:
- Women's representation - On any party's list, one of the first three candidates must be a woman. Of every successive three candidates, one must be a woman. Ideally a third of the National Assembly would be female.
- Universal registration - Iraqis automatically registered to vote using pre-existing public food distribution database.
- Fuller participation - Provisions for early voting, overseas voting; efforts to include voters in prisons and hospitals.
[ FairVote's analysis of the January vote and successive reforms ] [ IECI document on Iraq's electoral system - Adobe .pdf 77k ] [ Explanation of apportionment and seat allocation - Adobe .pdf 278k ]
UPDATE: Check out the Washington Post's map and guide to Iraq's elections. Includes overviews of the election system, regional demographics, key players and how seats are allocated.
Comments currently closed for Upcoming Iraqi Parliamentary Elections to Use Historic Proportional Voting System
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Posted by Jack, 2005-12-20 11:46:24 (7 years ago)
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For updated information, see: this post.
Posted by Jack, 2005-12-19 12:06:17 (7 years ago) -
[...] [ FairVote’s ongoing analysis of Iraqi electoral politics ] In Staff, Proportional Voting | Permalink| [...]
Posted by The FairVote Blog » Reforms help drive Iraq vote turnout to 70 percent, 2005-12-19 11:40:57 (7 years ago) -
Linking to this article in emails list and forums, with some title like "U.S. Troops are Fighting and Dying for Proportional Representation - Do You Know What That Is? - is a great way to interest the public. While it is not personally a matter of great significance, someone wanted to know what was "historical" about this election. I could not answer him. Iraq has had some form of parliamentary government in the past. Did it use proportional representation? Was it not as democratic a form of government? Jack Stewart
Posted by Jack Stewart, 2005-12-17 22:47:22 (7 years ago)
Jack, It's historic for a few reasons. Notwithstanding a few reported irregularities, it departs from the historical model of elite electoral manipulation - whether under Saddam or the British-backed constitutional monarchy. Second, parties were required to run women in electable slots on their lists. Under the constitutional monarchy, only the lower house was elected. Only men could vote. Fourth, it's mixed proportional. I'm not 100% sure if Iraq ever had a proportional voting system before. The reading I've done indicates not. The history of British colonial rule worldwide suggests Iraq had a FPP system. Then there are the other reforms we should implement at home - universal registration based on another database, felons not permanently disenfranchised, early voting.