Lack of Electoral Demographic Adjustment May Skew Polish Vote

For several years, the Polish parliament ignored requests from the National Electoral Commission to adjust voting districts to demographic changes. This failure gives disproportionate voting power to rural and small-town voters, many of whom support the ruling Law and Justice party.

For many citizens, equality of voting rights is a significant feature of democracy. Ideas like granting multiple votes to the more educated, suggested for example by John Stuart Mill in his essay “On Liberty” from 1859, or limiting voting rights only to men or property owners, seem to be relics of the past when democracies were still imperfect. 

Electoral systems are decisive factors that determine how votes translate into mandates. Every electoral system has to consider the country’s population and divide available seats, mandates, or votes among residents.

In contemporary societies, populations are changing much quicker than in decades before. Most advanced economies with a high standard of living entered a period of demographic decline, which means that some regions are depopulating quicker than others, such as big cities.