A QUICK GUIDE TO

How the Mixed-Member Proportional Representation (MMPR) system would work

1. 50% of the legislative seats will be filled up by FPTP method, in single member constituencies. The other 50% will be drawn from the Party Lists.

2. You get two votes to cast in your constituency: the Party vote for the party of your choice and the Constituency Vote for your candidate of your choice. The candidate you vote for need not belong to the party you select.

3. Party vote determines the total number of seats a party gets.

4. A State shall be the unit (electoral district) for proportional representation or lists.

5. The seats shall be divided among the remaining, eligible parties as per the following formula:

[No. of Valid Votes obtained by the party / Total No. of Valid Votes obtained by all eligible parties)] * (No. of Seats)

6. Each party receives one seat for each whole number resulting from this calculation. (The remaining seats are allocated in the descending sequence of decimal fractions).

7. Any seats, which a party has won directly in the constituencies, are deducted from this number, so that the balance number to be drawn from the Party Lists.

8. What is a Party List? A Party List carries the names of the party's candidates in the order of preference. Each party decides the order of the candidates on its list. The same party’s members should choose the names and order of these candidates (through secret ballot, ideally).

9. If a party wins more constituency seats than it is entitled to get by proportional representation, it will retain all constituency seats. The additional number will be added to the strength of the legislature on a temporary basis.

10. The existing reservation provisions will continue for the constituencies as well as party lists. Provision for women’s representation too can be easily included in the party lists.

11. Vote Threshold: To prevent excessive fragmentation, we generally include a vote threshold to determine seat eligibility. A party shall be eligible for allotment of seats only if it obtains above a certain % of the valid votes. For example, this threshold could be 10% in large States. Narrow-based or even extreme groups that obtain votes below the threshold are not eligible to get seats. However, small parties could form pre-election coalitions/alliances in order to cross the 10% vote threshold.