[EM] PR/STV Hybrid for multi-winner?

[Adam Tarr]

>Please note that the implementation of STV in Malta has practically meant
>the triumph of the two-party system.

As you make clear, this is not the fault of STV; this is the fault of the 
districting. Party-list PR would have the same problem as STV in a 5-seat 
district - you would need over 10% of the vote to get a seat.  (How much 
more depends on the voting breakdown of the other parties.  In a 3-party 
race you will rarely need much more than 12% or so, while in a many-party 
race you may need as much as 20%.)  Furthermore, it may be harder to get 
votes as a third-party candidate in list PR, since now there is a real 
possibility of throwing your vote away if you vote for the third party and 
they fail to capture a seat.

If Malta had one or two or three districts (with 60 or 30 or 20 seats) in 
the country in stead of 13 five seat districts, list PR would work fine. 
Just as STV would. The only issue is that STV can be cumbersome to use for 
such large districts.

>What is being proposed by Malta's third party (Alternattiva Demokratika -
>the Green Party) is that on top of STV, there will be a national list PR
>(very much a modified MMP).

Interesting idea; they would also do well to propose the merging of several 
districts into new larger districts.

-Adam