Home > 2.1 The competent bodies and their tasks > REPORT ON CONSTITUENCY DELINEATION AND SEAT ALLOCATION
 
 
 
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The major international standard to be applied in the field of constituencies is equal voting power as defined in the Venice Commission’s Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters:[1] “seats must be evenly distributed between the constituencies”. The equality of voting power is a crucial standard of the concept of electoral integrity.[2] It cannot be separated from representativeness and, more broadly, from other aspects of equal suffrage which may impact the allocation of seats to constituencies. Other basic features of allocation of seats in conformity with international standards are transparency and an impartial boundary authority not abusing its discretionary powers. These issues will be addressed in the next paragraphs.


[1] CDL-AD(2002)023rev2, I.2.2.


[2] Cf. Pippa Norris, Ferran Martinez i Coma, and Richard W. Frank, “Assessing the quality of elections” Journal of Democracy 24 (4): 124-135. 2013:


http://aceproject.org/electoral-advice/archive/questions/replies/531723839/749446722/Assessing-the-Quality-of-Elections.pdf, p. 127 and Pippa Norris, Why Electoral Integrity Matters (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014). According to Pippa Norris, the electoral integrity refers to ‘international conventions and global norms, applying universally to all countries worldwide throughout the electoral cycle, including during the pre-electoral period, the campaign, on polling day, and its aftermath’.