The unicameral National Assembly (De Nationale Assemblée) has 51 MPs elected within 10 constituencies by the d’Hondt highest average form of proportional representation. Voters may vote only for one party list and may cast a single preference vote for a candidate on that list.

Preferences only change the order of the party list if (1) the list wins only one seat which goes to the candidate with the most preference votes, or (2) a candidate receives a Hare quota of preference votes (i.e. number of preference votes for a candidate must exceed the number of votes for a list divided by number of seats won by the party). Otherwise, seats are awarded in the order on the party list. See Chapter XII, Article 131 of the 1987 Electoral Law for more information on the electoral system.

Suriname’s constituencies correspond to its 10 districts. The number of seats for each district is fixed by Chapter III, Article 9 of the 1987 Electoral Law and strongly favors the 9 smaller districts at the expense of Paramaribo, the capital district. Here is the seat allocation: