Structure of electoral districts
What is an electoral district?
One of the basic elements that make up a given electoral system and determine the effects of its functioning in practice is the division of the territory of the state (or another - e.g. a voivodeship in the case of local government elections) into constituencies.
In the simplest terms, a constituency is understood as a separate part of the area in which elections to the collegiate body are held, where votes are aggregated and seats distributed. Sometimes constituencies do not fulfil the latter function, e.g. in the elections to the European Parliament, where the area of Poland is divided into 13 constituencies, but they do not serve to divide the seats between political groupings (this is done at the national level).
Electoral district functions
The division of the area in which the elections are held serves several functions:
- Enabling proportional representation of different regions in the composition of the elected body, which is particularly important in the case of conflict between the centre and the periphery.
- Reducing the electoral offer (number of candidates) presented directly to each voter, so that he or she is in a better position to know the offer presented to him or her and to make a choice in line with his or her interests and views.
- Determining the actual level of proportionality of the electoral system and influencing the final outcome of the electoral formula. It can be argued that while the reformulation of the constituency voting results into election results is directly dependent on the electoral formula used, the reformulation of the voting result at the level of the overall elected body into the overall election result is primarily dependent on the structure of the constituencies.
Electoral districts division
Firstly, elecotral districts are divided into those in which seats are distributed among political groups and those in which seats are not distributed.
Where seats are apportioned in the constituencies, they are divided according to the number of seats to be apportioned in the constituency. The basic distinction is between first-past-the-post ("FPTP") and single non-transferable vote ("SNTV").
The multi-mandate constituencies in place include both two-mandate and three-mandate constituencies, as well as constituencies where all the seats are allocated (which, for example, means a 150-mandate constituency in Dutch lower house elections and a 120-mandate constituency in Israel). The use of a nationwide constituency makes it possible to achieve a very proportional distribution of seats in relation to the results of the vote.
Terms such as 'small', 'medium' or 'large' electoral districts are often used to describe constituencies. There is no single, universally applicable rule to distinguish between these terms and their meanings. Undoubtedly, however, as e.g. P. Uziębło points out, "constituencies with fewer than a dozen or so seats have a significant impact on the deformations that occur, which increase as the number of such seats filled in them decreases"¹.
In the case of proportional elections, larger constituencies (i.e. the more seats there are in each constituency) allow for an electoral outcome more in line with the results of the vote.
Elections in Poland have used, and continue to use, electoral districts of very different sizes. These include single-seat constituencies (e.g. in elections to the Senate since 2011 or in elections to councils of small municipalities), constituencies with a few seats (e.g. constituencies with 1 to 5 seats, which were previously used in small municipalities), constituencies that can be called medium-sized (most constituencies in elections to the Sejm) and finally constituencies where all the seats are distributed (a nationwide constituency in elections to the European Parliament).
How are electoral districts created?
In practice, there are various models for dividing the area in which elections are held into electoral districts. The first possibility is to divide the area into equal units (by which is meant equality within the adopted margin) in terms of a specific criterion (e.g. number of inhabitants or persons entitled to vote) - this is characteristic in the case of elections conducted according to the majority formula (e.g. elections to the lower chamber of parliament in France and local elections in Poland in communes with up to 40 000 inhabitants in 1990 and 1994 and in communes that are not cities with the rights of poviats in 2014). The second option, mainly appropriate for proportional elections, is to divide the area into units of different sizes. The most commonly used and simplest, and relatively uncontroversial, method of such division is to base it on the administrative division of the area in which the election is held. This can be seen most clearly in the case of elections to the parliaments of individual countries, but it may also apply to other electoral systems - in Poland, in elections to the European Parliament, the basis for establishing the district structure is the division into provinces (in practice, a district covers the area of a province - 7 out of 13, several provinces - 4, or part of a province - 2), and in elections to local government bodies: districts in elections to Sejmiks (regional assemblies) are established taking into account the structure of counties (and cities with county rights), in elections to county councils - the structure of municipalities, and in the case of municipalities - the auxiliary units of the municipality. The number of seats should then depend on the criterion adopted (e.g. the number of inhabitants or persons eligible to vote; a breakdown based on the number of votes actually cast is also possible). On the other hand, if a ward is used in which all the seats are distributed, there is no warding. The methods indicated may, moreover, occur in various combinations, particularly in electoral systems with different levels of seat distribution.
Manipulation using electoral districts
Malapportionment
Ensuring perfect substantive equality of elections, including at the stage of dividing the area in which the elections are held, is impossible in practice. This is a direct result of the indivisibility of the seats (it is not possible to attribute a district, as well as a grouping or candidate, to a part of a seat).
Unfortunately, in practice, it happens that the number of seats assigned to particular districts does not comply with the adopted principles. As a result, in some constituencies too many (or too few) representatives are elected in relation to how many should be elected (taking into account the criterion adopted - e.g. the number of inhabitants). This phenomenon of unequal representation is referred to as malapportionment. It can have various causes, e.g. it can result from a failure to update the number of seats in particular districts in response to demographic changes and population migrations. Such a problem is currently encountered, for example, in the case of elections to the Polish Sejm.
This can be countered, among other things, by delegating the determination of the number of district seats to independent (expert) bodies or by imposing a legal obligation on the bodies responsible for determining the number of district seats to update at specified intervals.
Gerrymandering
A specific form of electoral manipulation using constituencies is gerrymandering. It involves deliberately shaping the boundaries of an electoral district in such a way that the predicted pattern of support within the district has the effect of ensuring that the election result desired by the electorate is achieved. It is named after Massachusetts Governor Eldbridge Gerry, who in 1812 signed a law changing the structure of electoral districts so that one was shaped to resemble a salamander. This was an example of manipulation to ensure that representatives of the Liberal Democrat Party (to which Gerry belonged) would win in more constituencies. The phenomenon of gerrymandering poses a real threat to the preservation of electoral equality and, as a consequence, can lead to a loss of voter confidence in the electoral process.
This can be countered, among other things, by delegating the setting of constituency boundaries or requesting changes to them to independent (expert) or pluralised bodies.
A specific type of gerrymandering is the so-called 'consensual gerrymandering' occurring, for example, in the United States of America, where the two dominant political forces - the Democratic Party and the Republican Party - are guaranteed to maintain a functioning district division that benefits both parties through the existence of districts that are safe for them (so-called 'strongholds'), which leads to the consolidation of the dominance of both actors on the American political scene and makes it difficult for other political forces to break through².
Maciej Onasz, based on: Onasz Maciej, Inżynieria wyborcza w Polsce od roku 1989, Łódź 2017.
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