Hallett's Second Best Method

[Gary Swing]

On Sun, 19 Apr 1998, New Democracy wrote:

> Dear Gary,
> 
>     Hallett's "use of STV as the mechanism for an open list system" sounds
> like something I would like to know more about.
> 
>     In my Plan I use Choice Voting(STV) to create an open list. I wonder if
> I have reinvented the wheel - again.

Not quite. Hallett uses pre-ordered lists. Each voter may cast a simple
vote for a party, or a ranked choice (STV) vote for individual candidates,
regardless of their arrangement into lists, or both. The ranked choice
vote is counted first for individual candidates, then the remaining seats
are filled by the party list votes, in the pre-arranged order of the
candidates on the lists. If you use sevral multi-member districts rather
than at-large elections, a proportional distribution of seats by party can
be achieved by allowing each voter to mark a party, using a universal
quota, and assigning additional members accordingly.

I like this idea because it allows the voter as simple or complex a voting
choice as they wish. If they just want to vote for their party, they can
do that. If they want to sort through all the candidates and rank them in
order of preference, they can do that, too.

>     Would you give us more information on this Hallett's Second Best Method?

I could mail a copy of the language to anyone who requests it and
provides their postal address. It's described in Clarence Hoag & George
Hallett's 1926 book titled "Proportional Representation", originally
published in 1926, reprinted in 1969. (Macmillan Co. 1926; Johnson Reprint
Corp. 1969) The election provisions appear in sections 195 and 198.

The book states that the STV-list system was originated by Hallett, "who
included it as the second-best of three alternatives in A Proposal to
Change the Method of Electing the New York City Board of Aldermen, which
he helped prepare for submission to the New York City Charter Revision
Commission in 1922." The book also states that "This plan was devised for
use in places where a large illiterate vote or strong party feeling makes
it necessary to provide a simple means of voting a straight party ticket.
With slight modifications it has recently been recommended by the P.R.
League for use in Mexico."

I don't know about a large illiterate vote. I suppose with party logos on
the ballot, it would be suitable. It does offer the option of a very
simple vote, though.

Gary