Electoral Commission & IRO

[Bart Ingles]

Mike Ossipoff wrote:
> 
> It's interesting to note that the British commission recommending
> on electoral reform recommended against IRO (AV) by itself.
> Regrettably that information arrives barely too late for
> the voters of Santa Clara, who will vote tomorrow on whether
> or not to authorize the use of IRO in their county.
> 
> Mike Ossipoff


Of course, the report was talking about parliamentary elections.  The
Santa Clara measure is about single-seat elections.

The relevant statement from Lord Jenkins's report:

> On its own AV would be unacceptable because of the danger that in
> anything like present circumstances it might increase rather than
> reduce disproportionality and might do so in a way which is unfair
> to the Conservative party.

If I understand the situation correctly, the concern seems to be that
Liberal and Labour Party voters would rank each other second, preventing
the Conservatives from winning any seats.  It may be that the
Conservatives currently have a small plurality edge in not quite half
the districts, resulting in a rough semblance of proportionality.

It doesn't sound like they would have been happy with any single-winner
method on its own.  A Condorcet Winner in every district could wipe out
that rough proportionality.

Then again, I may have this all wrong.  Comments from the U.K.?

Bart