Constitutional expert Nassef Perdomo writes in El Día on 8 May 2019 about an aspect of Electoral Regime Law 15-19 that has not been in the limelight but he says is just as important as “the drag vote” as it relates to senators and deputies. He says the same law allows for political parties to post a list of deputies and the deputies are allocated votes depending on their placement set by the political party leadership.
As explained, in the new Electoral Regime 15-19 law, the previous provision that called for the votes that deputies and municipal elected officers receive be accumulated for the senator of the party was eliminated with the inclusion of Art. 94, which set four levels of election – presidential, senators, deputies and municipal. But there was no provision to eliminate the allocation of deputy seats according to the D’Hondt method, a type of party-list proportional representation that still is in effect. It is a winner takes more approach.
Perdomo explained that in an electoral district where six deputies are to be chosen, each party presents the same amount of candidates. When the votes are counted, the number of seats to be allocated to each party is determined first depending on these votes. Once the seats are allocated, candidates of each party are listed according to the descending number of votes obtained. That is from more to fewer votes. Those that are first on the list are elected.
If a party was allocated, for instance, two seats, then the first two on the list are elected; if the party was allocated three seats, then the first three are elected, etc.
Perdomo explains that this system means that candidate of party A can individually receive more votes than any other candidate in his electoral district, but not be elected because the party did not do well in general.
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9 May 2019