Section Electoral Boundaries sets out the four large blocks into which electoral systems can be divided in terms of electoral constituencies:
- those that use the whole of the national territory as a constituency, which in practice is equivalent to stating that territorial division does not exist for the purposes of elections
- those that use ad hoc electoral districts, normally tied to a majority system
- those that use the existing geopolitical units as constituencies, which are usually linked to the proportional elections in multi-nominal constituencies
- and, finally, states that use mixed constituencies, attempting to combine the relative advantages of the large proportional systems and the majority systems, by means of a national constituency with a very high electoral barrier and districts in which another block of seats is chosen by means of majority systems
The choice made when it comes to establishing the constituency as one of the essential elements in the electoral system will also lead to vast administrative consequences for the bodies that are entrusted with the organisation and control of the elections, as they have to adopt their own structure to the constituencies.
From this point of view it is evident that it is to the benefit of the administration of the processes to use already existing political constituencies in the country, since one way or another, the administration will already be present there, and the administrative or judicial structure will already have been adapted to such patterns. On the other hand, establishing specific constituencies will compel them to re-design the electoral administration practically from scratch.
