Are there countries where a member of the legislative branch can have more than one vote?

Question

In the legislative systems I know individual politicians always have a single vote, although in some cases they may influence other members votes behind the scenes. In the Netherlands it is possible for a single politician to control an entire party (Geet Wilders) but this still doesn't confer extra votes to that person.

Are there any systems in which a single person can cast more than one vote? Say, it is possible to get elected from two districts at the same time or perhaps certain districts have a bigger vote share for their representatives.

Answer 1

In the German Bundesrat, provinces have 3 to 6 votes that must be casted as a single bloc. In practice, provinces nominate as many delegates as they have votes and they often vote by a show of hands.

But if there is a roll call, one of them (the Stimmführer) will cast all the votes for his or her province. Furthermore, the presence of all the delegates is not required. When others are absent, a single delegate can still cast all the votes of the province and de facto has several votes.

Answer 2

I'm not aware of any where some voters can cast more than one ballot in their own name. But there are historical examples that used weighted voting at points in time - that is, countries where some voters' votes were more equal than others'.

Historical examples include:

• Ancient Rome (where the weight was tied to wealth)
• Sweden until the end of WW1 (where some companies could vote, thus giving their owners more votes)

And to a lesser degree, since these are about segregating by class or race first and foremost:

• A few French colonies (where locals had the same number of representatives as the French)
• Southern Rhodesia (de jure segregated voting)

The only current example I'm aware of is the City of London, which is a historical peculiarity within London where companies can still vote - thus giving their owners (and non-residents) more power than locals.