closed list

Closed list describes the variant of party-list systems where voters can effectively vote for only political parties as a whole; thus they have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected. If voters had some influence, that would be called an open list. Closed list systems are still commonly used in party-list proportional representation, and most mixed electoral systems also use closed lists in their party list component. Many countries, however have changed their electoral systems to use open lists to incorporate personalised representation to their proportional systems.

In closed list systems, each political party has pre-decided who will receive the seats allocated to that party in the elections,{{Cite web|title=Open, Closed and Free Lists —|url=https://aceproject.org/main/english/es/esg03.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200628155439/https://aceproject.org/main/english/es/esg03.htm|archive-date=28 June 2020|access-date=2 January 2021|website=ACE Project}} so that the candidates positioned highest on this list tend to always get a seat in the parliament while the candidates positioned very low on the closed list will not. However, the candidates "at the water mark" of a given party are in the position of either losing or winning their seat depending on the number of votes the party gets. "The water mark" is the number of seats a specific party can be expected to achieve. The number of seats that the party wins, combined with the candidates' positions on the party's list, will then determine whether a particular candidate will get a seat.

List of countries using closed list systems

File:Closelist PR 2020.svg

= Proportional representation =

{{flagicon|Algeria}} Algeria
{{flagicon|Angola}} Angola
{{flagicon|Argentina}} Argentina
{{flagicon|Armenia}} Armenia
{{flagicon|Benin}} Benin
{{flagicon|Burkina Faso}} Burkina Faso
{{flagicon|Burundi}} Burundi
{{flagicon|Cambodia}} Cambodia
{{flagicon|Colombia}} Colombia (depending on the party)
{{flagicon|Costa Rica}} Costa Rica
{{flagicon|Dominican Republic}} Dominican Republic{{Cite web |url=http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Electoral/DomRep/voto_preferencial.pdf/ |title={title} |access-date=2018-09-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122204816/http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Electoral/DomRep/voto_preferencial.pdf |archive-date=2015-11-22 |url-status=live }}
{{flagicon|Equatorial Guinea}} Equatorial Guinea
{{flagicon|Guatemala}} Guatemala
{{flagicon|Guinea-Bissau}} Guinea-Bissau
{{flagicon|Guyana}} Guyana
{{flagicon|Hong Kong}} Hong Kong (1997–2016)
{{flagicon|Israel}} Israel
{{flagicon|Kazakhstan}} Kazakhstan{{Cite web|last=Lundberg|first=Thomas Carl|date=22 October 2010|title=Post-communism and the abandonment of mixedmember electoral systems|url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/206628811.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210102063819/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/206628811.pdf|archive-date=2 January 2021|access-date=2 January 2021|website=University of Glasgow}}
{{flagicon|Kyrgyzstan}} Kyrgyzstan
{{flagicon|Lithuania}} Lithuania (1992–1997) (Seimas and municipalities' councils)
{{flagicon|Moldova}} Moldova
{{flagicon|Montenegro}} Montenegro
{{flagicon|Morocco}} Morocco
{{Flagicon|Mozambique}} Mozambique
{{flagicon|Namibia}} Namibia{{cite web|url=http://www.ecn.na/web/ecn/elections|title=Elections - GRN Portal|website=www.ecn.na|access-date=2018-07-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721014311/http://www.ecn.na/web/ecn/elections|archive-date=2018-07-21|url-status=dead}}
{{flagicon|Nicaragua}} Nicaragua
{{flagicon|Niger}} Niger
{{flagicon|North Macedonia}} North Macedonia
{{flagicon|Norway}} Norway (de facto)
{{flagicon|Paraguay}} Paraguay
{{flagicon|Portugal}} Portugal
{{flagicon|Romania}} Romania{{cite web |url=http://www.romanialibera.ro/politica/institutii/legea-algerilor-parlamentare-pe-liste--promulgata-de-iohannis-386442 |title=Legea ALEGERILOR PARLAMENTARE pe LISTE, promulgată de Iohannis |work=România Liberă |last=Filimon |first=Paul |date=20 July 2015 |language=ro |access-date=2018-05-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702055511/http://romanialibera.ro/politica/institutii/legea-algerilor-parlamentare-pe-liste--promulgata-de-iohannis-386442 |archive-date=2017-07-02 |url-status=live }}
{{flagicon|Rwanda}} Rwanda
{{flagicon|Serbia}} Serbia
{{flagicon|South Africa}} South Africa
{{flagicon|Spain}} Spain
{{flagicon|Sri Lanka}} Sri Lanka
{{flagicon|Timor-Leste}} Timor-Leste
{{flagicon|Togo}} Togo
{{flagicon|Tunisia}} Tunisia
{{flagicon|Turkey}} Turkey
{{flagicon|Uruguay}} Uruguay
{{Flagicon|Wales}} Wales (from 2026){{cite web | url=https://www.gov.wales/historic-act-strengthens-democracy-in-wales | title=Historic Act strengthens democracy in Wales | GOV.WALES | date=24 June 2024 }}
{{Div col end}}

= Mixed electoral systems =

Mixed electoral system using closed lists for the proportional component{{Div col}}

{{Flagicon|Andorra}} Andorra
{{flagicon|Hungary}} Hungary
{{Flagicon|Germany}} Germany (mixed-member proportional representation)
{{Flagicon|Italy}} Italy
{{Flagicon|New Zealand}} New Zealand (mixed-member proportional representation)
{{Flagicon|Russia}} Russia
{{Flagicon|Scotland}} Scotland
{{Flagicon|Taiwan}} Taiwan
{{Flagicon|Wales}} Wales (1999-2026)
{{Div col end}}

= Majoritarian representation =

Party block voting (general ticket) with a closed list

{{Flagicon|Côte d'Ivoire}} Côte d'Ivoire (party block voting in multi-member districts)
{{flagicon|Singapore}} Singapore (party block voting in multi-member districts)
{{Flagicon|United States}} United States (electoral college)
{{Div col end}}

References

External links

[http://www.electionguide.org/countries/ Country profiles] at IFES
[http://aceproject.org/ace-en/topics/es/esd/esd02/esd02e/esd02e03 Open, Closed and Free Lists] at Ace Project

Category:Party-list proportional representation