Quota

A quota is a number of votes (obtained by formula) often relevant to deciding who wins and how ballots are evaluated or modified in proportional voting methods.

Hare quota

The Hare quota may be given as:

${\frac {{\mbox{total}}\;{\mbox{votes}}}{{\mbox{total}}\;{\mbox{seats}}}}$

Where:

• ${\text{total votes}}$ = the total valid poll; that is, the number of valid (unspoiled) votes cast in an election.
• ${\text{total seats}}$ = the total number of seats to be filled in the election.

[[W: Droop quota | Droop quota]

Sources differ as to the exact formula for the Droop quota. As used in the Republic of Ireland the formula is usually written:

$\left({\frac {\text{total valid poll}}{{\text{seats}}+1}}\right)+1$

but more precisely

$\operatorname {Integer} \left({\frac {\text{total valid poll}}{{\text{seats}}+1}}\right)+1$

where:

• ${\text{total valid poll}}$ = Total number of valid (unspoiled) votes cast in an election.
• ${\text{seats}}$ = total number of seats to be filled in the election.
• $\operatorname {Integer} ()$ refers to the integer portion of the number, sometimes written as $\operatorname {floor} ()$