Proportional Representation: A Study in Methods of Election

by John H. Humphreys

Compulsory voting.

The exercise of the franchise is regarded in Belgium as a duty which each citizen owes to the State, and the obligatory vote is therefore universally accepted without demur. The elector must attend at the polling place, take his ballot paper and deposit it in the ballot box. If he places the ballot paper in the urn without voting there are no means of ascertaining the fact; but unless he forwards to the Electoral Officer an explanation, in due form, of his absence from the polling booth he is liable to prosecution. The percentage of abstentions is thus very low, but, in addition to this result, the obligatory vote has had a considerable indirect effect upon the character of electoral contests. Voting has become an official matter. Formerly, as here, it rested with the political organizations to persuade and exhort electors to vote; now, each elector receives from the Returning Officer an official command to attend at the polling place.

Partial renewal of chamber.

The third difference—the partial renewal of the Chambers—dates from the constitution of 1831, and the reason for its adoption was the same as that which underlies the partial renewal of English municipal councils—the desire to ensure continuity in the composition and proceedings of Parliament. There was some justification for this practice under the old voting methods, for then the result of elections largely depended, as is the case in England to-day, upon the chance distribution of party strength. The composition of the Chamber of Representatives was liable to violent oscillations and changes, and the partial renewal of the Chambers moderated the violence of these changes. But whilst the partial renewal may be defended on these grounds, it has two distinct disadvantages. When only one-half of the Chamber is to be elected (as in the renewal of only one-third of our municipal Councils) a considerable diminution takes place in the amount of public interest evoked by an election. There is, moreover, a further and even more serious drawback that, when the election turns upon a question of vital importance, such for instance as the annexation of the Congo, the verdict of only one-half the people is obtained. In 1908 elections took place in four provinces only—East Flanders, Hainaut, Liege, and Limbourg—and so, whilst the citizens of Ghent and Liège were expressing their opinion upon the policy of the Government, the citizens of Brussels were reduced to the position of spectators of a fight in which doubtless many would have liked to have taken a part. The introduction of proportional representation has rendered this particular feature of the Belgian electoral system quite unnecessary. Electors are not so fickle as an irrational method of voting made them appear to be.

The presentation of lists.

For the purpose of parliamentary elections each of the nine provinces of Belgium is divided into large constituencies returning several members; Brussels returns twenty-one members, Ghent eleven, but several of the smaller constituencies return as few as three representatives. Fifteen days before the date of the election lists of candidates which, before presentation, must have received the support of at least one hundred electors, are sent to the returning officer. After verification, each list is given an official number and the lists are then published, no official title other than the number being given to the lists. In the copy of the ballot paper used at Ghent, shown on the opposite page, list No. 1 was presented by the Catholics; No. 2 by the Liberals; No. 3 by those Socialists who were dissatisfied with their party's list; No. 4 by the small tradesmen; No. 5 by the official Socialists; whilst No. 6 contains the name of a candidate standing as an independent. It will be observed that each of the first five lists is divided into two parts separated by the word "Suppléants." The candidates so described are not taken into account in the actual election of representatives; they are, however, voted for in the same way and at the same time as the other candidates, and are called upon (in the order determined by the result of the election) to fill any vacancy occasioned by the retirement or death of a duly-elected representative belonging to the same list. This arrangement obviates the necessity for bye-elections, and the relative strength of parties remains the same from the time of one election to the next. The order in which the names of the candidates appear upon the lists is arranged by the organizations responsible for their presentation. It should, however, be stated that this provision, about which public opinion is much divided, is not an essential feature of a proportional system. It was not a part of the original proposals of M. Beernaert, and it certainly strengthens the hands of political organizations, although, as will be shown subsequently, proportional representation considerably modifies, if it does not altogether prevent, abuse of the power conceded to political bodies.

[Illustration: List Ballot paper]

The act of voting.

The work of the elector is simplicity itself. He can select one list or one candidate in a list but not more for each of the votes to which he may be entitled. His choice can be recorded in four different ways. In each case the act of voting consists in pencilling one or other of the white spots contained in the black squares at the head of the lists or against the names of individual candidates. In the first place, the elector may vote by blackening the spot at the head of the list. The significance of such a vote is that the elector votes for the list, and, at the same time, approves of the order in which the candidates have been arranged by the party organization. Naturally all the party organizations and journals advise their supporters to vote in this way.

Secondly, the elector may vote by blackening the white spot against the name of one of the "effective" candidates on one of the lists. Such a vote implies that the elector votes for the list on which the candidate's name appears, but that, instead of approving of the order in which the candidates have been arranged, he prefers the particular candidate he has marked. The third and fourth methods are but variations of the second. The elector can indicate a preference for one of the supplementary candidates, or he can indicate preferences for an effective and also for a supplementary candidate. In brief, the elector votes for one of the lists, and either approves of the list as arranged or indicates the change he desires.