Voting from their Hearts? Contamination and Strategic Voting

Although the number of entrants in SMD races is likely to vary across different mixed systems, depending on how majoritarian and proportional institutions are combined, the number of candidates participating in the election is generally larger in the SMD component of mixed electoral systems than it is in pure forms of majoritarian elections. As we have shown in previous chapters, parties may garner additional votes in the PR segment of the election by running strong SMD candidates.