Proposal to distribute Congress seats more proportionally

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1. The bill proposes changing how Congress seats are distributed. Each province would get an initial minimum of just one seat instead of two, and the remaining 298 seats would be distributed in proportion to population using the Sainte-Laguë method.
2. It would first calculate each party's total seats based on its votes nationwide, with a small threshold to exclude parties with very few votes. The last 25 seats would be allocated in a way that favors the party with the most votes, to help governability.
3. Then each party's seats would be distributed among the provinces through a biproportional apportionment, a more complex mathematical method than the current one.
4. The bill would replace closed, blocked party lists with open lists: voters could mark the candidates they prefer on the ballot, and seats would go first to the top of the list and then to the candidates with the most preference votes.
5. The explanatory statement justifies the change because votes weigh more in sparsely populated provinces than in densely populated ones, and because the current system favors the most voted parties. It cites reports from the Council of State (Consejo de Estado) and the OSCE.
6. The law would take effect the day after its publication in the Official State Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado).

Who it affects

• Voters: They could mark the candidates they prefer on the ballot, not just vote for a fixed list.
• Small political parties: They would find it easier to win seats, though parties with very few votes would be excluded from the allocation.
• Large political parties: The party with the most votes would still get an advantage in the last 25 seats.
• Residents of densely populated provinces: Their provinces would no longer be underrepresented, because seats would be distributed by population.
• Candidates: Their position on the list would no longer guarantee a seat: the preference votes they receive would count.

Words worth knowing

Método d'Hondt (D'Hondt method)

A mathematical formula used to allocate seats by votes; it favors the parties with the most votes.

Método Sainte-Laguë (Sainte-Laguë method)

Another mathematical formula for allocating seats, more proportional than D'Hondt.

Reparto biproporcional (biproportional apportionment)

A method that allocates seats in two steps: first how many go to each party and each province, then how the two allocations are combined.

Listas cerradas y bloqueadas (closed, blocked lists)

The current system: you can only vote for a party's full list, and candidates get seats in the order they appear.

Voto preferencial (preference vote)

A mark a voter makes next to a candidate's name to show they prefer that candidate.

It summarizes the text as it was introduced. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries