valimistüübil

Valimistüübil is an Estonian term that describes a specific type of electoral system. It refers to a mixed-member proportional representation system where a portion of the seats in the legislature are filled by directly elected representatives from single-member constituencies, and the remaining seats are allocated from party lists to ensure overall proportionality of representation based on the national vote share.

In a valimistüübil system, voters typically cast two ballots. One ballot is for a candidate in their local constituency, and the other is for a political party. The seats won by individual candidates in constituencies are counted first. Then, the party list seats are used to compensate for any disproportionality that may have arisen from the constituency wins, ensuring that the final composition of the legislature more closely reflects the national distribution of votes. This approach aims to combine the benefits of direct representation with the fairness of proportional outcomes. Estonia uses a form of mixed-member proportional representation in its parliamentary elections.