EQUAL SUFFRAGE AND THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM

Spain's "Congreso de los Diputados" (lower house) electoral system does not guarantee citizens the equal right to vote. It gives rise to a system of majority bias, where small constituencies are overrepresented. There is a strong incentive for political fragmentation, and political parties that obtain better results or gain most of their support at the constituency level are at an advantage. This highly distorts proportionality and results in large numbers of lost votes that have no influence on the election result. This work will analyse some proposals for electoral reform that aim to increase equal opportunity in voting and in candidacies so as to improve the parties' quality of democracy.