Select Page

Open List PR

Simple and proportional

Open List Proportional Representation (OLPR)

Open List PR (OLPR) is a proportional system that allows voters to choose the most popular candidates from the party of their choice, and delivers proportional results for parties. 

List PR is the most common proportional system in the world. It simple to use and simple to understand.

Open List PR is used in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Chile.

How it Works

Instead of electing just one MP in each single member riding (first-past-the-post), voters elect a small team of MPs in a multi-member local district. This better reflects the political diversity that exists in every area. Here’s how it works:

  • Parties nominate multiple candidates in a riding (each party offers a list).
  • Voters make a mark next to one candidate of their choice from a party’s list.
  • If a party’s candidates get a given X% of the vote, that party gets X% of the seats.
  • The candidates with the most votes for that party take the awarded seats.
  • Any independents that get the requisite share of the vote are also elected.
Open List Proportional Representation example ballot
Share This