Majority condition
The majority condition, also the majority criterion , is a criterion for seat allocation procedures . It requires that a majority of votes always results in a mandate majority.
A distinction must be made between a weak majority condition, according to which a party with at least 50% of the votes also receives at least 50% of the mandates, and a strong majority condition, according to which a party with more than 50% of the votes also receives more than 50% of the mandates receives.
The D'Hondt method (divisor method with rounding off) only fulfills the weak majority condition if the total number of mandates is even . The strong majority condition is only met if the total number of mandates is uneven , because in this case a voting share of exactly 50% ensures an absolute majority of the mandates. Conclusion: Since, according to D'Hondt, no party can receive fewer mandates than corresponds to their rounded quota , i.e. D'Hondt fulfills the quota condition below (see seat allocation procedure ), the strong one can here The majority condition can never be violated by more than one mandate.
The Hare-Niemeyer procedure (quota procedure with residual settlement according to largest fractions) can never violate both forms of majority conditions by more than one mandate due to the fulfillment of the quota condition. It can therefore be easily fulfilled by assigning an additional seat to the relevant party, with the result that the body is enlarged by one seat. Or the additional seat is assigned at the expense of the other parties, so that a reallocation must be made here.
The divisor methods according to Sainte-Laguë / Schepers, Hill-Huntington, Dean and Adams can all violate the majority condition, especially the Adams method , which systematically discriminates against large parties and fulfills the minority condition. A fundamental solution as with the Hare-Niemeyer procedure is not possible with the procedures mentioned, as the seat claim of the largest party can fall below its rounded quota by more than one seat.
Regardless of the procedure for allocating seats, the majority condition can only always be met in purely proportional representation systems, in which only one party's share of the vote in the entire electoral area determines its strength in parliament. If the electoral area is divided into constituencies, in which a fixed number of members is elected according to the principle of proportional representation, there is no purely proportional representation. This must not be confused with cases in which the electoral area is divided into constituencies in which associated constituency lists are elected, i.e. the mandate of a party in the entire electoral area is calculated on the basis of its percentage of votes there and, in a second step, on the constituencies according to their numbers of votes there ( is distributed under).
A fortiori, the majority condition can be violated in majority voting systems with the principle of majority or majority principle (English. Winner-takes-all principle ). B. the general election systems in France and Great Britain or the procedure for the election of the US president. In 2000, for example, George W. Bush was elected President, although more voters voted for Al Gore (more precisely for his electors) in the election of the electoral council .