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Specifically, a ''constituency'' (also known as (electoral) '''district''' or '''division''') often refers to the group or area from which voters in an election are drawn. Depending on the Electoral System being used, a constituency may elect one or more members. For instance, in the United Kingdom , House Of Commons Parliament ary constituencies each elect one Member Of Parliament using a First Past The Post system (though some used to elect more than one), while the larger European Parliament ary constituencies each elect a number of Member Of The European Parliament (see ' Regions Of England '). In Namibia and in Canton Of St. Gallen in Switzerland it is also used as a Administrative Division . A marginal constituency is one where the margin between the expected voting for the major parties in an election is slim. In United Kingdom General Elections , the voting in a relatively small number of marginal constituencies usually determines the outcome of the entire election. AUSTRALIA ''List: List Of Australian Federal Electorates '' In Australia , federal and state constituencies are known as '' Electorate s'' or ''seats''. CANADA ''List: List Of Canada's Electoral Districts '' In Canada , constituencies are legally known as '' Electoral District s'' (in French , ''circonscriptions'') for Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assemblies at the provincial level, although "constituency" and the informal term "'' Riding ''" (or "''comté''" in French) are also used. FRANCE In France , electoral constituencies are known as ''circonscriptions électorales''. For parliamentary elections, they are known as ''circonscriptions législatives''', and for departemental one, France uses ''cantons''. GERMANY In . Similar provisions obtain for many of the federal state parliaments, though constituencies are generally smaller and boundaries change more frequently. Representatives to the European Parliament are only elected by party proportion and state. HONG KONG The unicameral Legislative Council has 60 members, 30 returned from five geographical constituencies based on the Hare Quota and Largest Remainder Method , and the remaining 30 returned through 28 Functional Constituencies . REPUBLIC OF IRELAND See Also: Parliamentary constituencies in the Republic of Ireland Constituencies in the Republic Of Ireland elect between three and five TD s, while constituencies between 1536 and 1800 in the Kingdom Of Ireland used to return two MPs. INDIA ''List: List Of Indian Constituencies '' SINGAPORE In Singapore , there are 14 Group Representation Constituencies and 9 single member constituencies, giving a total of 23 constituencies. Group representation constituencies elect between three to six MPs to the Parliament Of Singapore , while single member constituencies elect one. SWITZERLAND In Switzerland the Canton Of St. Gallen uses the ''Wahlkreise'' (constituency or electoral district) in place of the previous, and more usual, District . See Canton Of St. Gallen#Constituencies And Municipalities . UNITED KINGDOM See Also: United Kingdom constituencies In the United Kingdom, a parliamentary constituency is sometimes called a ''Parliamentary seat'' or a ''Division''. Constituencies for Local Government elections are called either '' Wards '' or ''electoral divisions''. As of 2005 , there are 646 House Of Commons constituencies in the UK:
Northern Ireland has 18 constituencies, each of which elect six MLA s to the Northern Ireland Assembly under the Single Transferable Vote system. The Scottish Parliament has 73 single-member constituencies elected on a first past the post basis, with the remaining 56 seats in the parliament being selected by the Additional Member System (AMS). Since the passage of the Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004 , the constituencies of the Scottish Parliament are no longer identical to those of the House of Commons. The National Assembly For Wales has 40 constituencies elected by first past the post which are identical to the Welsh constituencies of the House of Commons. Its remaining 20 seats are selected by AMS. The London Assembly has 14 constituencies elected by first past the post, described in the article on London Assembly Constituencies . Its remaining 11 seats are also selected by AMS. UNITED STATES In the United States , electoral constituencies for the federal House Of Representatives are known as '' Congressional District s'', while the constituencies for the variously named State Legislatures go by a variety of names. Long standing practice, reinforced and modified by several U.S. Supreme Court decisions, require the equalization of populations of constituencies after each decennial census, a process known as Redistricting . When driven by partisan bodies, this process opens up the possibility of Gerrymandering for political or factional advantage. A Pennsylvania legislator long active in redistricting issues, State Rep. Mark B. Cohen of Philadelphia, said that "In election years, constituents choose their legislative officials. In redistricting years, legislative officials usually try to choose their future constituents." OTHERS Most of the rest of the Commonwealth Of Nations also use constituencies as electoral divisions. For details of constituencies in these and other places see: SYNONYMS Marginal constituencies are also known as:
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