Editing Electoral threshold (section)

== Legal challenges ==
The German [[Federal Constitutional Court]] rejected an electoral threshold for the [[European Parliament]] in 2011 and in 2014 based on the principle of [[one person, one vote]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Karlsruhe vs. EU electoral reform could go into the third round|date=18 May 2022 |url=https://www.euractiv.de/section/europakompakt/news/karlsruhe-vs-eu-wahlrechtsreform-koennte-in-die-dritte-runde-gehen|publisher=EURACTIV MEDIA NETWORK BV. }}{{in lang|de}}</ref> In the case of Turkey, in 2004 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe declared the threshold of 10 percent to be manifestly excessive and asked Turkey to lower it.<ref>{{cite web |title=Council of Europe Resolution 1380 |url=https://pace.coe.int/en/files/17225 |publisher=Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe |date=22 June 2004}}</ref> On 30 January 2007 the [[European Court of Human Rights]] ruled by five votes to two and on 8 July 2008, its Grand Chamber by 13 votes to four that the former 10 percent threshold imposed in Turkey does not violate the right to free elections (Article 3 of Protocol 1 of the [[European Convention on Human Rights|ECHR]]).<ref>[[Turkish Daily News]], 31 January 2007, [http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/european-court-rules-election-threshold-not-violation.aspx?pageID=438&n=european-court-rules-election-threshold-not-violation-2007-01-31 European court rules election threshold not violation]</ref> It held, however, that this same threshold could violate the Convention if imposed in a different country. It was justified in the case of Turkey in order to stabilize the volatile political situation over recent decades.<ref>[[Yumak and Sadak v. Turkey]], no. 10226/03.</ref><ref>[https://www.webcitation.org/5hRos9CTv?url=http://www.bbk.ac.uk/law/about/ft-academic/bowring/negatingpluralistdemocracy Negating Pluralist Democracy: The European Court of Human Rights Forgets the Rights of the Electors], KHRP Legal Review 11 (2007)</ref>