Summary
Delimitation techniques designed to discount the votes of particular groups or geographic areas are prohibited.
Election Parts
Quotes
- The drawing of electoral boundaries and the method of allocating votes should not distort the distribution of voters or discriminate against any group, and should not exclude or restrict unreasonably the right of citizens to choose their representatives freely.
- Constituency delimitation…designed to dilute or discount the votes of particular individuals, groups or geographic areas are unacceptable in the light of the international norm of equality of suffrage.
- In addition, electoral units must not be drawn on a discriminatory basis that dilutes the voting power of ethnic, national, racial, religious, or other groups.
- Determining the constituency boundaries is an important step in the electoral process, since they can give rise to marked “structural” inequalities in representation. Three factors may be behind such disparities: demographic change, gerrymandering and “natural gerrymandering”.
- Equal suffrage also requires that every citizen's vote should have equal weight irrespective of distinctions such as race, color, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property birth or other status. Demarcation of election district boundaries therefore may not be drawn in ways that divide minority communities and thus reduce their voting power.
- The basic principle in relation to delimitation of electoral districts is that it should be done fairly and should not have the effect of prejudicing the representation of any party or minority grouping.