Electoral Commission & IRO

[David Catchpole]

On Tue, 3 Nov 1998, Mike Ositoff 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

...But not because the commission believes that "IRO" is absolutely
inferior to any other single-member election system. It's simply that
there is a recognition that single-member systems suck, especially in
dense suburban spreads like Britain.

It is actually possible to have a "majority" parliamentary system which is
still more representative. It involves having a vote at large to decide
the "winning party" and then to make the votes responsible for its
majority count only for it and its allies. By now, basically everyone will
be gasping their chests and cursing me for even daring to suggest a
not-really-proportional system. I know it's wicked, but it might just
work, especially in countries where preferences do not necessarilly
reflect alliances, such as Australia.