Mathematicians have concluded that a perfectly fair election system is impossible in a specific mathematical sense. No voting method can always ensure that local victories produce local seats, national seat totals accurately reflect overall vote shares, and the size of parliament remains fixed. Election Systems Under Growing PressureSeveral northern European elections over the past decade have demonstrated these tensions. In Germany, efforts to preserve both local representation and proportionality caused the Bundestag to expand sharply before reforms were introduced in 2023. New Zealand adopted proportional representation in 1993, but the New Zealand House of Representatives does not have a fixed parliament size.