Open list

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Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected. This is as opposed to closed list, in which party lists are in a pre-determined, fixed order by the time of the election and gives the general voter no influence at all on the position of the candidates placed on the party list.

An open list system allows voters to select individuals rather than, or in addition to parties. Different systems give the voter different amounts of influence to change the default ranking. The voter's candidate choices are usually called preference vote; the voters are usually allowed one or more preference votes for the open list candidates.

Open lists differ from mixed-member proportional representation, also known as "personalized proportional representation" in Germany. Some mixed systems, however, may use open lists in their list-PR component.