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

[LAYTON Craig]

Demorep wrote:

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

I do not agree.  A legislative body maintains a monopoly on the use of force
over all residents, not only over the voters.  Democratic principles are
important, but these are entirely irrelevant if the government has no right
to be a government.  If a group of people do not assist in the selection of
the government, and never assist in the selection of a government, we could
say that the government has no right to coerce them or bind them by laws in
any way.  As it's impossible for everyone to assist in the selection of a
government, we have to settle for as many people as possible, and definately
more than half.

>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.

Again, this is a test of a good system, but it must pass my test first.

>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.).

Am in total agreement, except that it is not 100 percent accurate.  As I
have explained before, preferential voting must be optional, or at least
optional past a certain point (often, the minimum number of preferences for
the vote to be considered valid is set at the number of seats in the
electorate).  If you do not do this, the system is less than 100 percent
accurate by encouraging informal votes.  If you do do this, the system is
less than 100 percent accurate because some votes are 'exhausted' and do not
go to a candidate.

>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).

Nominating petition?  An actual petition where a candidate needs 4 percent
of the voters signing the petition before they are allowed to run?  Hmm. We
limit candidates by charging them a certain amount of money to run.  If the
candidate doesn't get a certain percentage of the vote (either first
preference or just before they get eliminated) they don't get the money
back.  If you still have too many factions, raise the price.  Petitions are
probably better, but if you charge you might be able to run the election at
no cost to the taxpayer.

>Each voter would vote for 1 of the candidates.
>
>All candidates are elected to the legislative body.

Every single candidate who gets a vote? You've changed your mind?  You
mention a voter having 1st, 2nd choices above.  In this case, the
legislature may be very large.  I don't suppose this is really a problem,
and this is would be 100 percent accurate.  I'm not sure how practical it
is, though.

>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.

How can you have a number of members per district, if every candidate who
gets votes is elected?

These two elements I agree with.  There is some suggestion that 7 is the
optimal number of members per district.  The rest of your system has been
different each time you've posted it.  Should I assume these are successive
improvements?  I'm not taking this as a disagreement with my posting, as
this system would certainly pass the legitimacy test with compulsory voting.