Another element of electoral systems are formal thresholds. Thresholds are the legally prescribed minimum number of votes needed for a party to take part in distribution of parliamentary seats. Basically, “[p]arties that do not obtain the legally prescribed minimum number of votes do not get any seat. This is an obvious limitation to minor parties, one that often also proves fatal to the survival of such parties.” Since thresholds are an element of the electoral system, defining them are also a sovereign decision of the state, as long as they comply with the principles of the European electoral heritage. In the case of formal thresholds, there are important international standards, including case-law by the ECtHR, which call for ensuring that any threshold pursues a legitimate aim and meets the proportionality test.