A voting system in which political parties win seats in proportion to the number of votes cast for them is called:

Proportional representation (PR) is an electoral system in which parties or candidates win seats in proportion to the share of votes they receive.

How it works:

• If a party wins 30 per cent of the votes, it gets about 30 per cent of the seats.
• This makes the legislature a closer reflection of the votes of the people.

Types of proportional representation:

List system: voters vote for a party, and seats are filled from lists of candidates prepared by the parties. It is used in countries such as Israel, the Netherlands and South Africa.

Single transferable vote (STV): voters rank candidates in order of preference, and votes are transferred according to preferences until the required number of candidates reach a quota. It is used in Ireland and Malta.

Mixed systems: some seats are filled by direct constituency elections and others by party lists, as in Germany and New Zealand.

Proportional representation in India:

• The Constitution provides for elections by proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote for:
• The election of the President.
• The election of the Vice-President.
• Elections of members of the Rajya Sabha by state legislative assemblies.
• Elections of members of state Legislative Councils by assemblies, local bodies, graduates and teachers.

First-past-the-post in India:

Elections to the Lok Sabha and state Legislative Assemblies are held under the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, in which the candidate who gets the most votes in a constituency wins, even without a majority.

Why India chose FPTP for direct elections:

• It is simple for voters to understand.
• It usually produces stable governments.
• It gives voters a clear link with their local representatives.
• The framers felt that PR could lead to many small parties and unstable governments.

Disadvantages of PR:

• It can lead to coalition governments and instability.
• In list systems, the link between voters and individual representatives is weaker.

Why not the other options?

• ✗First-past-the-post gives seats to the candidate with the most votes.
• ✗The two-round system holds a second round if no candidate gets a majority.
• ✗"Preferential majority system" is not a standard name.