[EM] Proxy P.R. method- Variable size body

[DEMOREP1 at aol.com]

Mr. Layton wrote in part-

As the government has absolute coercive power over all people permanently

residing in that country, and not just those who vote / are eligible to

vote, I think that the minimum number of people having some say in the

makeup of government in order for it to be legitimate is half of the total

population.  I define 'having some say in the makeup of government' as

helping to elect a member to the legislature, either by voting for that

member (in non-rank ballot elections), voting for that member's party (in PR

party list systems) or voting for that candidate above some other candidate

who didn't get elected, and that vote is actually counted to help elect that

candidate (in preferential systems).
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D- A *democratic* legislative body exists only because the Electors (Voters) 
(in most cases) cannot appear in person and enact laws by majority rule.

Thus, the legislative body test is whether or not ANY majority of the voters 
can (and do) elect legislators who have a majority of the voting power in the 
legislative body.

Or, in other words, does the percentage of the party votes equal the same 
percentage of party voting power in the body (i.e. percentage of the seats 
(if 1 legislator (per seat) has 1 vote) ???

The ratios of different party votes / party seats (with 1 vote/ 1 seat) are 
almost never the same.

Simple example- 3 seats --- 5, 7, 8, etc. voters.

Thus, only proxy p.r. is 100 percent accurate in representing ALL voters 
(though a voter may not be represented by his/her early choice(s) (first, 
second, etc.).

This brings up a simple proxy p.r method with a variable number of members in 
the legislative body.

Have a high enough nominating petition requirement to limit the number of 
candidates (such as 4 percent of the total voters at the last election in the 
area involved- to keep down the number of factions floating around- one of 
the major complaints about p.r. in many countries).

Each voter would vote for 1 of the candidates.

All candidates are elected to the legislative body.

Each member would have a voting power in the legislative body equal to the 
number of votes that he/she receives.

I suggest the use of districts (with at least 5 members) so that no single 
member would have a large percentage of the total voting power.