Minorities and effective political participation: a survey of law and national practices 2010, para. 74
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A common mechanism used to facilitate minority representation is the allocation of special seats in the legislature to representatives of certain minorities (reserved seats). This is usually done under majority electoral systems which otherwise cannot guarantee minority representation, but is sometimes also used in proportional representation or mixed systems. Usually, members of the minority group, who have to register as such for this purpose, elect these representatives. The number of reserved seats generally seeks to reflect the proportion of the minority in the overall population, so it is likely to be small. If there are a number of very small minorities, they may be assigned a combined seat, although it may not be easy for one representative to represent genuinely the interests of all such groups. Mainstream parties may have an interest in mobilizing the reserved seats.