[EM] An Election is not over until It's Over

[Donald E Davison]

Greetings,

     An election is not over until we have eliminated all the candidates
down to the number of seats. While it is true that the elimination of the
last candidate cannot change the elected candidates, we need to know how
many of the last transferred ballots will become wasted. We need to know
the quality of PR of the election method we are using.

     Some Droop supporters seem to want to hide that last near quota of
wasted votes, as if it is an embarrassment - it is an embarrassment. They
have given the `Seats Plus One' position the title of `The First Runner Up'
and act like this candidate has been elected to something - in reality he
has been elected to nothing. Even if there is a later vacancy, he will be
passed over by the rules for filling the vacancy.

     Droop supporters suggest the election should be over at `Seats Plus
One', so we can make a `Meaningful Comparison".
     We can make a `Meaningful Comparison' on any step of the election,
without ending the election. This is merely smoke and mirrors in an attempt
to avoid the fact that `We have a Problem' in the Droop STV.
     We can have the same problem in the Hare STV, if groups were active in
lowering the number of votes down to near a Droop quota.
     The `Problem' is the problem of a near quota of ballots left hanging
out after the ending of the count, like toilet paper hanging out of
someone's butt.
     Those ballots hanging out the butt end of the Droop Count are wasted
ballots. The Droop supporters may as well fess up and admit it.
     The election is not over until the paper work is finished.

     STV has too many `Dirty Little Secrets' - undemocratic Dirty Little
Secrets, as follows:
        * Small STV Districts
        * Droop Quota and/or Lowering the Vote Numbers
        * Transferring Exhausted Ballots to Remaining Candidates.

     What we should do is toss in the towel on STV, and support MMP instead.

Regards,
Donald

Note: This happened in Cambridge concerning a vacancy and the `Runner Up'.
      One of the elected members went to jail. The vacancy was not filled
by the `Runner Up'. His votes were not even used to determine which of the
non-elected candidates would fill the vacancy. The way in which the
replacement was determined is that the rules went back to the data of the
last election, but it only used the votes that elected the now vacant
member to determine the replacement. None of the votes of the `Runner Up'
nor any of the exhausted votes were used.
     The thinking of the rules was that the voters that elected the now
vacant member, are the only voters that have the right to decide the
replacement. So much for being the `Runner Up' in a Droop election.
     The replacement member had less than a majority of a quota, while the
`Runner Up' had well over a majority of a quota.

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   |                         Q U O T A T I O N                         |
   |  "Democracy is a beautiful thing,                                 |
   |       except that part about letting just any old yokel vote."    |
   |                            - Age 10                               |
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