THE SPANISH ELECTORAL SYSTEM: A REALISTIC PROPOSAL

Abstract

The distribution of seats in the Spanish Parliament since the national elections on 20 November 2011 has provoked, mostly from the affected political parties, a huge amount of criticism about the Spanish voting system, particularly of the electoral formula created by the Belgian mathematician  Víctor D´Hont. The different parties normally  make decisions based on the results from the electoral formula used by the Spanish Parliament in any given historical period. How is the D’Hont formula affecting the quality of Spanish democracy? Is the D’Hont formula the true obstacle? This paper aims to contribute to the debate about our voting system. I will focus my attention on some modif ications to the Organic Law on Electoral Regulation  that everybody  might accept, as well as suggesting  a couple of zero cost allocation  voting system models which could be put into effect immediately.