Listavaalijärjestelmä

Listavaalijärjestelmä, also known as party-list proportional representation, is an electoral system used to elect representatives to a legislature. In this system, voters cast ballots for political parties rather than individual candidates. Parties then compile lists of candidates, and the seats in the legislature are allocated to parties in proportion to the total number of votes they receive.

The core principle of listavaalijärjestelmä is proportionality. If a party wins 30% of the vote, it should ideally receive approximately 30% of the seats. This aims to ensure that the composition of the legislature closely reflects the electorate's political preferences. There are various ways this proportionality is achieved, including the use of electoral thresholds, which are minimum vote percentages a party must reach to gain any representation. Different countries employ different formulas to translate party votes into seats, such as the D'Hondt method or the Sainte-Laguë method.

Listavaalijärjestelmä can be implemented in different forms. Open-list systems allow voters to express a preference for a specific candidate within a party's list, potentially influencing the order in which candidates are elected. Closed-list systems, on the other hand, have a predetermined order of candidates set by the party, and voters have no influence over who gets elected beyond choosing the party itself. This system is widely used in many European countries and is often praised for promoting multi-party representation and reducing the likelihood of "wasted" votes. However, critics sometimes argue it can lead to fragmented parliaments and empower party leadership.