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Open list
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Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected. This as opposed to closed list, which allows the usually much fewer, active, voting party members to determine the order of its candidates and gives the voter no influence at all on the position of the candidates placed on the party list. Additionally, an open list system could also allow a voter to vote for the party as a whole without expressing a preference between individuals.
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Encyclopedia
Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected. This as opposed to closed list, which allows the usually much fewer, active, voting party members to determine the order of its candidates and gives the voter no influence at all on the position of the candidates placed on the party list. Additionally, an open list system could also allow a voter to vote for the party as a whole without expressing a preference between individuals. In practice however, voting for the most popular candidate or (except in the 'most open' system) the first candidate on the list will give the same effect.
There are still differences possible between open list systems, each giving the voter varying amounts of influence.
List Systems
Relatively Closed List
A 'relatively closed' open list system would be one where a candidate has to get a full quota (usually Hare quota, but Droop quota is also possible) on his or her own in order to be elected. The total number of seats won by the party minus the number of its candidates that succeeded in getting this quota would then successively be given to those unelected candidates from that party who had been ranked highest on the original list.
More Open List
For a 'more open' list system, the quota could be lowered to less than a full one instead (the Netherlands for example uses 25% for its Lower House elections). It is then (theoretically) possible that more candidates are eligible for a seat than the party deserves as a whole. It should therefore be clear in advance whether list ranking or absolute votes takes precedence in that case.
In Swedish elections, the 'most open' list is used, but a person needs to receive 5 percent of the party's votes (in elections to the European Parliament, municipal assemblies or county councils) or 8 percent of the party's votes (in elections to the Riksdag) for the personal vote to overrule the ordering on the party list. Voting without expressing a preference between individuals is possible, although the parties urge their voters to support the party's prime candidate, to protect them from being overrun by a person ranked lower by the party.
In addition, the voting system could allow parties to choose a small number (say, 5 or 10) of candidates to be guaranteed to be selected first (perhaps to form a small 'core' of government, such as head of state, cabinet, etc.) This solves the problem of major party figures being prevented from taking office, yet still allows the vast majority of party candidates' order on the party list to be decided by the voters.
Most Open List
The 'most open' list system is the one where the absolute amount of votes every candidate got fully determines the "order of election" (the list ranking only possibly serving as a 'tiebreaker'). When such a system is used, one could make the case that 'within' every party an additional virtual single non-transferable vote election is taking place. This system is used in all Finnish and Brazilian multiple-seat elections. While ties may be resolved by a toss in Finland, the oldest candidate wins the tie in Brazil.
Free List
A 'free list' is similar in principle to the most open list, but instead of having just one vote for one candidate in one list, an elector has (usually) as many votes as there are seats to be filled, and may distribute these among different candidates in different lists. Electors may also give more votes to one candidate, in a manner similar to cumulative voting. This gives the elector more control over which candidates are elected.
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