Madrid (EFE).- The Spanish electoral model is determined by three key factors: the number of seats that are elected -350 deputies-, their distribution by circumscriptions -how many seats are elected in each province- and the mathematical formula to make that distribution -the D’Hondt system.
Of all these factors, the most reviled by critics of the electoral model is undoubtedly the D`Hondt method, despite the fact that the size of the constituency is the determining factor in the lack of proportionality that is often blamed on the system.
Created by the Belgian jurist Víctor d’Hondt in 1879, it is a distribution method that seeks to assign the seats to the lists in the most proportional way possible with respect to the number of votes received.
However, the system tends to favor the large parties, especially in the smallest constituencies, where proportionality is distorted by the mathematical impossibility of granting seats to candidates with fewer votes and which do not reach a certain percentage.
To understand how the model works, let’s imagine a table that lists the different parties that have presented themselves in a province and as many columns as the number of seats to be distributed; Let’s take an example of a province with 5 deputies.
An example of how the D’Hondt system works
To begin with, candidacies that do not reach 3 percent of the votes in the case of general elections are discarded.
Next, in each of the columns, the votes obtained by each candidacy are arranged, divided by 1, 2, 3 and so on until divided by five, which are the total seats to be distributed in that constituency.
Once this division is done, each deputy is assigned to each one of the highest quotients in order from highest to lowest, until reaching the fifth and last seat.
As can be seen with the naked eye, the greater the number of seats to be distributed, the greater the possibility that the minority forces obtain a deputy, as long as they overcome the minimum barrier of 3 percent established by law.
In Madrid, 37 seats are distributed, a sufficient number for any party that exceeds that minimum to obtain a deputy. As an example, in November 2019, Más País obtained two seats with 5.7 percent.
On the other hand, in Soria, where only two deputies are elected, and except for an overwhelming victory for one party, it is normal for the force with the most votes to win one seat and the second, the other. The rest of the parties, even if they have relevant percentages, are left out.
The example of the British system
If this system may seem unfair or not very proportional to us, the British system is the paradigm of majority models, in which the winner, even by a single vote, sweeps.
The United Kingdom has 650 constituencies representing England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each constituency has only one representative in the House of Commons.
Each party presents a single candidate per constituency for the elections, and the one with the most votes, even by a simple majority, is elected.
The British system harms the representation of minority parties and empowers the hegemonic parties -usually the Conservatives and Labour-, as well as the formation of absolute majorities in Parliament.