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Research draft

electoral unit

vr.tr.electoral-unit · PHY.PLC

Let an agent handle electoral units by legislature, boundaries, period of validity and representation, and track boundary changes over time.

Thing Registry Physical world and living systems

Research draft, second pass

A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.

written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify

Researched by: Claude

Purpose and description

Let an agent handle electoral units by legislature, boundaries, period of validity and representation, and track boundary changes over time.

A territorial division from which representatives are elected to a legislature or council, such as a constituency, electoral district or ward; some administrative units double as electoral units.

What it is for: Organising elections and linking voters to representatives.

It can be find which unit an address is in; redraw its boundaries, through a lawful process; report election results by unit; compare units over time, if boundaries allow.

Distinguishing features

Defined for elections

Boundaries change with redistricting

Returns one or more representatives

May coincide with administrative units such as counties

What it looks like

Lines on electoral maps; names and numbers of constituencies.

How it is recognised

Constituency names and codes

Official boundary maps

Former constituencies remain in historical results

Related models

elects - representative

member of parliament

is part of - territory

state or region

is defined by - process

boundary commission

is confused with - different purpose

administrative district

In practice

Families and kinds

single-member constituencies

multi-member districts

wards for local councils

administrative units used as electoral units

former constituencies

Identifiers

official constituency code jurisdiction-specific for example ONS codes in the UK

Standards and regulation

Electoral law on boundaries and apportionment

Venice Commission Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters

Failure modes and hazards

Using outdated boundaries

Gerrymandering

Comparing results across boundary changes

Also called

district of Kinshasacounty of Romaniaregion of the Czech RepublicFormer Assembly constituencyformer state electoral districtformer constituency of the Althingconstituency of the Parliament of Northern Irelandopen constituencyregion of Czechoslovakiacounty of the Kingdom of Romaniaformer municipality of Luxembourgviscounty of Couseransdepartment of Boliviamunicipality of Luxembourgcommune of Cameroonprovince of Argentinafederative unit of Brazilstate of the Federal Republic of Central AmericaUnited States senate seat (Class 1)United States senate seat (Class 2)United States senate seat (Class 3)United States electoral districtelectoral circumscription of RomaniaConstituencies of Russiaelectoral district in Turkeymunicipality of Boliviastate constituency of Malaysiawellbeing services countyconstituency of the House of Assembly of St Luciaconstituency in Malaysiastate electoral district of AustraliaDPR-D electoral districtCanadian Senate divisiondivision of Ugandaconstituency of the Gambia 2017-2022canton of Luxembourgfederal electoral district of MexicoWisconsin State Senate districtWisconsin State Assembly districtparliamentary constituency of Nepal

+318

Where this came from

wikidata · CC0 1.0

Source repository Registry entry point

Drafted structure

Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.

Definition Which unit.

Units are defined by law and period.

Identity

Name and code.

Identity

Name, code, legislature.

  1. What is the unit name and code, for which legislature? provenance
  2. For which period are its boundaries valid? boundary

Seats

Representation.

Seats

Seats returned.

  1. How many representatives does it elect? measurement
  2. By which electoral system? definition
Boundaries Where it is.

Boundaries change.

Map

Official boundary.

Boundary

Boundary source.

  1. Where is the official boundary map? provenance
  2. Which address falls in which unit? action

Changes

Redistricting.

Changes

Boundary changes.

  1. When were the boundaries last changed, and by whom? provenance
  2. What was the predecessor unit? provenance
Population Voters.

Equal representation depends on electorate sizes.

Electorate

Registered voters.

Electorate

Electorate size.

  1. How many registered voters does it have? measurement
  2. How does that compare with the quota? measurement

Fairness

Gerrymandering.

Fairness

Fairness concerns.

  1. Have the boundaries been challenged as unfair? boundary
  2. What did courts decide? provenance
Results Election outcomes.

Results are reported by unit.

Outcomes

Results.

Results

Official results.

  1. What were the official results, from which source? provenance
  2. Who is the current representative? provenance

Comparison

Across elections.

Comparison

Comparability.

  1. Can results be compared across elections given boundary changes? boundary
  2. Are notional results available? provenance

What the second pass must settle

  • Should units be versioned by boundary period?
  • How should former units be linked to successors?
  • The registry entry has merged aliases naming administrative units; should they be split off?
Draft as JSON