Election by list

An election by list is an electoral system of political representatives by which the electors of an area vote for lists of candidates. If the system is an election by majority (absolute or relative), the list that win get all or a part of the representatives for that area. If the system is an election by list by proportionality, the seats allocated to that area are split between winning lists, depending of their results, and a prime can be given to the first list. The system can be with one or two rounds.

Such system of election exist in France, Tunisia, or Ecuador, as examples.

Election by list by majority

An election by list by majority is an electoral system by a list used for parliamentary elections in Djibouti, Lebanon, Singapore, Tunisia, Ecuador, Switzerland and Senegal or for municipal elections in France.

Each party proposes a list of candidates which citizens vote on. The list that obtains the majority of votes earns all or a part of the seats contested in the election.

If the election is at one round, the list who receives the most votes in the first round of voting wins the election, while in a two-round system, the list must win by an absolute majority at first round, or by a relative majority in the second round. There can be a lower limit for a list to be present for the second turn. In the two-round system of French municipal elections of cities over 1,000 inhabitants, the majority list earns 50% of the seats and the rest is attributed proportionally between all the lists present at second round including the one who won.

Such a system is advantageous for large political parties, but usually not for smaller parties. It allows the possibility for a powerful majority, capable of imposing major reforms in the country. This system is the opposite of the proportional representation system, which matches the percentage of votes received to the percentage of seats won in an election. This system can be more easily adapted than other voting systems to allocate seats to minority or female representatives.

Election by list by proportional

Main article: Party-list proportional representation

Bloc voting

Main article: Plurality-at-large voting