Open List Proportional Representation: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

International IDEA & Friends’ Asia & the Pacific Online Lecture No. 1
7,141
This publication is only available in electronic format
Published: 
2 June 2021
Pages: 
15
Author(s): 
Alan Wall

The open-list proportional representation (OLPR) system, as opposed to the closed-list version, allows voters to pick their favourite candidate from the party list while retaining proportionality of the election results.

In the Asia & the Pacific region, this system is used in among others: Fiji, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. What are the upsides, downsides and unintended consequences of this system? Follow the lecture and/or read the paper for the answers.

Contents

1. Different versions of OLPR

2. Voting methods

3. Who is permitted to contest an OLPR election?

4. Ballot design

5. Disadvantages of OLPR

6. Misconceptions about OLPR

Conclusions

References

Annex 1. Thresholds, district magnitudes, numbers of entities represented in parliament and seat allocation methods in countries using OLPR

Annex 2. Voting methods and contestants in OLPR systems

Media

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