Editing Elections in Chile (section)

====Criticism====
{{see also|Gerrymandering#Chile}}

The [[binomial voting system]] was introduced by the military dictatorship that governed Chile until 1990. It replaced the [[proportional representation]] system used until 1973 and limited each electoral division to two seats. District boundaries were drawn to favor right-leaning parties, often benefiting rural areas with greater support for the [[Augusto Pinochet|Pinochet]] regime. Vote-to-seat disparities were especially pronounced in districts where the regime had received lower support in the [[1988 Chilean national plebiscite|1988 plebiscite]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Valenzuela, Arturo and Peter Siavelis |year=1991 |title=Ley electoral y estabilidad democrática: Un ejercicio de simulación para el caso de Chile |url=http://www.cepchile.cl/dms/archivo_1320_1445/rev43_valenzuela.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119182939/http://www.cepchile.cl/dms/archivo_1320_1445/rev43_valenzuela.pdf |archive-date=2012-01-19 |access-date=2011-12-29 |work=Estudios Públicos Nº 43 |publisher=[[Centro de Estudios Públicos]] |page=39 |language=es |location=Santiago}}</ref>

Changing the system was made difficult by constitutional provisions requiring a three-fifths majority in both houses of Congress.<ref name="constitution" /> Critics, particularly from the [[Concert of Parties for Democracy]], argued that the system distorted representation by undercutting majorities and amplifying right-wing presence.<ref>{{cite web |author=Carey, John M. |year=2006 |title=Las virtudes del sistema binominal |trans-title=The Virtues of the Binomial System |url=http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0718-090X2006000100016&script=sci_arttext |access-date=2011-11-26 |work=Revista de Ciencia Política / Vol. 26 / Nº 1 |pages=226–235 |language=es |issn=0718-090X |location=Santiago}}</ref> Supporters on the right defended the system as a stabilizing force<ref>{{cite web |title=Coloma defiende el sistema binominal: "Ha dado estabilidad a Chile" |url=http://www.emol.com/noticias/nacional/2011/10/26/509991/coloma-defiende-el-sistema-binominal-ha-dado-estabilidad-a-chile.html |access-date=2011-10-27 |publisher=Emol.com}}</ref><ref name="sciencespo">{{cite web |year=2009 |title=Chili : Système électoral |url=http://www.opalc.org/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=328:chili--systeme-electoral&catid=131:systemes-electoraux-et-legislations&Itemid=208 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415145106/http://www.opalc.org/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=328:chili--systeme-electoral&catid=131:systemes-electoraux-et-legislations&Itemid=208 |archive-date=April 15, 2013 |access-date=2011-11-26 |work=Observatoire Politique de l'Amérique latine et des Caraïbes de [[Sciences Po]] - Opalc.}}</ref> that encouraged broad coalitions.<ref>{{cite web |author=Siavelis, Peter |year=2004 |title=Sistema electoral, desintegración de coaliciones y democracia en Chile: ¿El fin de la Concertación? |url=http://www.scielo.cl/scielo.php?pid=S0718-090X2004000100003&script=sci_arttext |access-date=2011-11-26 |work=Revista de Ciencia Política / Vol. XXIV / N° 1 |pages=58–80 |language=es |issn=0718-090X |location=Santiago}}</ref> The left criticized it as undemocratic,<ref name="sciencespo" /> excluding parties and candidates outside the two main blocs.<ref name="cieplan" />