jakorajarajamenetelmä

Jakorajarajamenetelmä, often translated as the "proportional representation method" or "largest remainder method," is a family of electoral systems used to allocate seats in a proportional manner when a legislature is elected from multi-member districts. The fundamental principle is to ensure that the distribution of seats as closely as possible reflects the proportion of votes received by each political party.

The method typically involves two main stages. First, a quota is calculated, which represents the number of votes needed to win a single seat. Various quota formulas exist, such as the Hare quota or the Droop quota. Once the initial seats are allocated based on full quotas, there are often remaining seats to be distributed.

This is where the "largest remainder" part of the method comes into play. Parties that have not won a full quota but have a significant number of remaining votes after their initial allocation are awarded the leftover seats. The seats are distributed to the parties with the largest fractional remainders of votes, one by one, until all seats are filled. This system aims to minimize wasted votes and ensure that smaller parties are not disproportionately disadvantaged in the seat allocation process. Jakorajarajamenetelmä is employed in various countries for national and local elections, seeking to achieve a more accurate representation of the electorate's will in legislative bodies.