At the most basic level, electoral systems translate the votes cast in a general election into seats won by parties and candidates. The key variables are
- the electoral formula used,
- whether the system is majoritarian or proportional,
- what mathematical formula is used to calculate the seat allocation, and
- the district magnitude - not how many voters live in a district, but rather how many members of parliament that district elects.
Electoral system design has a close relationship to other more administrative aspects of elections discussed on this web site; such as the distribution of polling places, see Voting Sites, the nomination of candidates, see Parties and Candidates, the registration of voters, see Voter Registration, who runs the elections and so on, see Electoral Management. These issues are of critical importance, and the possible advantages of any given electoral system choice will be undermined unless due attention is paid to them.
Electoral system design also affects other areas of electoral laws:
- The choice of electoral system has an influence on the way in which district boundaries are drawn, see Boundary Delimitation,
- The design of ballot papers, see Ballot Design,
- How votes are counted, see Vote Counting,
- And numerous other aspects of the electoral process.
In this section we will focus some of the other aspects of electoral law which accompany the question of the specific electoral formula to be used. These include elements of 'direct democracy' - referendums and plebiscites, see Referendums and Plebiscites; citizen initiatives, see Citizen Initiative; and legislative recall, see Legislative Recall. A discussion of when to hold elections for a legislature and how often, see Frequency/Date/Day of Elections; how to come up with an appropriate parliamentary size, see Parliamentary Size; ways of voting on a ballot paper, see Way of Voting; special electoral mechanisms - such as provisions for compulsory voting - see Compulsory Voting; minority representatives, see Minority Provisions; and for representation of women, see Special Mechanisms for Women.
