PP wants open-list electoral system for Madrid

The Popular Party (PP) wants to make Madrid the first region to choose its parliamentary representatives via a system of single-member electoral districts — thus swapping the current closed-list system for an open one.

Under the plan, the region would be divided into 43 constituencies of around 150,000 inhabitants each, with the candidate obtaining the most votes in any given one awarded the only seat available. The remainder of the 129 deputies in the regional parliament will be chosen via the traditional closed-list system allocated using the D'Hondt method.

The PP's spokesman in the Madrid parliament, Iñigo Henríquez de Luna, said the reform was about making deputies more accountable. "We think it is important to give more prominence to the role of the deputy as a representative approved by citizens. [...] With this reform we will improve our electoral system since candidates in each district will have to win their vote, get to know citizens' problems, and promise to resolve them."

As well as those of its own 80 deputies, the PP said it could also count on the votes of the eight UPyD deputies, meaning it would require eight further Socialist votes to pass the reform. The Madrid Socialist Party has yet to reveal its official position.