d'hondt method 

A method of allocating seats in a proportional vote in elections. This method is what the United Kingdom use for elections to the European Parliament (apart from Northern Ireland, who use first-past-the-post)

Say results in an election were:
Party A: 350,000
Party B: 200,000
Party C: 90,000
and 6 candidates had to be selected,
in the first round, "party A" would win a seat, and their vote would subsequently be halved to 175,000,

in the second round, "Party B" with 200,000 are larger than "Party A" with 175,000, so "Party B" win a seat, and their vote is halved to 100,000,

in the third round, "Party A" are again the largest party with 175,000, so they win a second seat, and their vote is reduced to 116,666

in the forth round, "Party A" win another seat as 116,666 is larger than 100,000, and "Party A"'s vote is reduced to 87,500

in the fifth round "Party B" win with 100,000 votes, and their vote is reduced to 66,666.

in the sixth round "Party C" win their first seat as 90,000 is larger than "Party A"'s 87,500 and "Party B"'s 66,666.

The total number of votes was 640,000. So Party A had 55% of the vote, and they have won 50% of the seats. Party B had 31% of the vote and they have won 33% of the seats. Party C had 14% of the vote and they have won 17% of the seats. So the percentages of the votes and of the seats are pretty similar, which is why the d'hondt method is a proportional voting system.

Dude 1: "How come UKIP does so well in Euro elections but can't get a single seat in Westminster?"
Dude 2: "Westminster uses first-past-the-post, the Euro elections use the D'Hondt method, a type of proportional voting"
Dude 1: "Get a life"

d'hondt method by dead end thoughts May 28, 2014