Editing Proportional representation (section)

===Electoral threshold===
The [[electoral threshold]] is the minimum vote required to win one seat. The lower the threshold, the higher the proportion of votes contributing to the election of representatives and the lower the proportion of votes wasted.<ref name="ideaEsd" /> An explicit threshold requires parties to win a certain percentage of the vote in order to be awarded seats from the party lists, and otherwise denies any representation to parties . By contrast, a [[Electoral threshold#Natural threshold|natural threshold]] is (equal to a [[Droop quota]]) is the smallest number of votes needed to mathematically guarantee a seat.<ref name="ideaEsd" />{{rp|83}}

In New Zealand, which uses [[mixed-member proportional representation]], the electoral threshold is 5% of the national vote but parties that win at least one constituency seat get their due number of seats even if they do not achieve the threshold.<ref>{{Cite web| title=New Zealand's electoral system | url=https://www.ourcommons.ca/content/Committee/421/ERRE/Brief/BR8391757/br-external/2PedenR-e.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170602031536/https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/ERRE/Brief/BR8391757/br-external/2PedenR-e.pdf | archive-date=2017-06-02}}</ref>

Turkey sets its electoral threshold at 7 percent,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Turkey reduces election threshold to 7 percent{{snd}}Türkiye News |url=https://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-parliament-approves-election-law-changes-172648 |access-date=19 March 2023 |website=Hürriyet Daily News |date=April 2022}}</ref> while the Netherlands sets its threshold at a single [[Hare quota]], or 0.67 percent of national vote count.<ref name="ideaEsd" /> 

Israel has raised its threshold from 1 percent (before 1992) to 1.5 percent (1992-2004), to 2 percent ([[2006 Israeli legislative election|in 2006]], and to 3.25 percent in 2014. Because that country uses at-large districting, the natural threshold would be less than 1 percent, much lower than the electoral threshold.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lubell |first1=Maayan |title=Israel ups threshold for Knesset seats despite opposition boycott |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-knesset-idUSBREA2A0MX20140311 |access-date=10 July 2014 |publisher=[[Thomson Reuters]] |date=11 March 2014}}</ref> 

South Africa has no explicit electoral threshold.{{Cn|date=August 2024}}

In STV elections, a candidate winning an [[electoral quota]]'s worth of votes (usually [[Droop quota]]) is assured election, and thus that candidate's party would win one seat in the district.<ref>Benoit, Kenneth. "Which Electoral Formula Is the Most Proportional?" (PDF). {{doi|10.1093/oxfordjournals.pan.a029822}}. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 June 2010</ref>