Numbers of votes cast for candidates

Only those candidates occupying the top positions on their lists shall qualify as the potential MPs and deputy MPs of each candidate list in a constituency; they shall be twice as many as the number of seats allocated to each list according to the result of the election, cf. Articles 109 and 110, though never fewer than three. This number of candidates is referred to as the ‘ranking number’ of the list. 

To determine which of these candidates have been elected, the National Electoral Commission shall calculate the number of votes cast for the candidates who qualify according to paragraph 1. The candidate occupying the first seat on an unaltered candidate list, or who is placed in that seat on an altered list, receives one vote.

The candidate who, in the same way, occupies the second seat shall receive a fraction of a vote, calculated as follows: the denomination subscriber shall be the ranking number, while the numerator shall be that number less one. The numerator shall then be reduced by one for each successive rank position. The candidate who receives the highest number of votes on each list in accordance with paragraph 2 is allocated the first seat of the list. The candidate who receives the second highest number of votes is allocated the second seat, and so on until the allocation of parliamentary seats and deputy seats is complete. If two or more candidates receive an equal numbers of votes, the order in which they are ranked on the list shall be decided by lot. 

Candidates other than those qualifying as potential MPs and deputy MPs under paragraph 1 shall retain the positions they occupy on their candidate lists regardless of alterations made on ballot papers.