How many votes do you need to be elected? Understand what the electoral and party quotient is and how to calculate it.
It is common for some voters and even candidates and politicians who are not very familiar with the Brazilian electoral process to question themselves when a candidate receives more votes and is still not elected, while the vacancy goes to a politician who received fewer votes.
This result is explained when we take into account the proportional voting system , especially the electoral and party quotient.
Proportional vote
It is a voting system that seeks to proportionally divide the number of available seats between political parties and/or party coalitions. Not only are the votes received by the candidate calculated, but the votes obtained by the party or coalition of which he or she is a part are also taken into account.
The proportional voting system seeks to reflect the distribution of uae mobile database votes within parliament, with the aim of democratizing the participation of a plurality of parties , thus attempting to form a more heterogeneous government .
What is electoral quotient?
Electoral quotient is the total number of valid votes divided by the number of seats in dispute. This calculation, combined with the party quotient, results in the distribution of seats for federal, state, district deputies and councilors .
Electoral quotient according to the Brazilian electoral code:
The electoral quotient is determined by dividing the number of valid votes counted by the number of seats to be filled in each electoral district, disregarding the fraction if equal to or less than half, equivalent to one if greater.
— (Electoral Code, art. 106)
To better understand how the proportional system works, we chose a clear example of how both the electoral and party quotients work.