GET TO KNOW THE POLITICAL PARTIES
Whether you’re a first time voter or not, I’m pretty sure you wonder why you can only cast one vote for a political party at the back of your ballot. The parties on the list goes on but, how and why can you only vote for one? Read along to find out the roles of Political Parties to help you decide who to vote for in the coming 2025 national elections.
A political party is an organization of men and women that is united by a common political principle and platform to seek controlling powers of the government to serve the national interest of the public; they are manifestations of a representative democracy. Political Parties are among the vital instruments of a democratic government as they are an invaluable agency in managing transfer of political power, maintaining or changing governments.
Get to know the key points of the part list system:
- What is their purpose?
- Political Parties give representation to various sectors of labor, farmers, fisherfolk, urban poor, indigenous cultural communities, empowerment of women, veterans, overseas workers, and professionals (e.g. teachers).
- How do they work anyway?
- Each voter will choose a party-list group, they are not individual candidates. Their seats in congress are allocated proportionally based on the number of votes each party receives. The votes comprise 20% votes of the House of Representatives, ½ of the seats allocated to the party-list representatives are filled by selection or election.
- There are a lot of political parties on the back of my ballot, do they all have a seat?
- There are limitations on the number of seats a political party can win to prevent domination by a single party. There are a total of 169 parties listed and accredited by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and a seat is decided if the groups received at least 2% of the total party-list votes that earned one party-list seat in the Congress.
A Party-list system is there to democratize political power by giving the political parties who can not win in legislative district elections a chance to win seats in the House of Representatives. Due to the nature of our political landscape, party lists continue to evolve and there’s always manifesting parties and current ones changing their platforms. Always check and consult government sources and reliable news outlets to stay informed.
By: Janha Tolentino
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