[EM] BASIC PARTS OF THE B.C. GREEN PARTY P.R. PROPOSAL FEB. 2002

[Olli Salmi]

http://elections.bc.ca/init/i2002.html

The bill is very interesting but I'm not happy with the wording in the
quote. It's not very precise and apparently there is no provision for
overhang seats. Of course it may be simply that I cannot read the text
properly.

>Regulations for allocating party seats
>137A
>(1) The total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly will be twice the
>number of electoral districts, with half of the seats going to constituency
>candidates and half of the seats going to party candidates (“party seats”).

The number of seats is fixed. In Germany and New Zealand there may be extra
seats if a party has gained a lot of constituency seats.

>(2) In order to be eligible for party seats, a party must receive at least
>five percent of the total valid votes on party ballots in a general election
>or elect at least one constituency representative.
>(3) The Chief Electoral Officer will use the following procedure to ensure
>that the proportion of members of the entire Legislative Assembly affiliated
>with a particular political party resembles as closely as possible the
>proportion of total valid votes cast for that party on party ballots:
>(a) Determine the “Eligible Support” for each party by calculating the number
>of votes cast for the party in the party ballot, and dividing by the total
>number of votes cast for parties eligible for party seats.
>(b) Determine the “Optimum Number of Seats” for each party by multiplying the
>Eligible Support of the party by the total number of seats in the Legislative
>Assembly.
>(c) Determine the “Eligible Parties” by excluding from the list of parties on
>the party ballot any party that is not eligible for party seats, and any
>party that has elected a number of constituency candidates greater than or
>equal to the Optimum Number of Seats for that party.

If a party gains more seats than its Optimum Number the total of party
seats should be diminished or there should be overhang seats. I can see no
provision for either option.

>(d) Allocate the party seats among the Eligible Parties in a manner that
>ensures that the ratio of [total final seats divided by Optimum Number of
>Seats] for each Eligible Party is the same or such that the difference
>between the highest ratio and lowest ratio is minimized.

Presuming that there are no overhang seats, this ought to mean "remaining
party seats", if a party has gained more than its Optimal Number.

The formula is difficult. I have a faint recollection that this system has
been used in the USA in the allocation of seats to the House of
Representatives, and perhaps also in Britain to determine seats for the EU
Parliament districts. It may be equivalent to something else.

>(4) Once the number of party seats to be allocated to each party has been
>determined under subsection (3), the Chief Electoral Officer will offer those
>seats to the party candidates on the party list of each Eligible Party, after
>that party list is adjusted to reflect the removal of;
>(a) party candidates elected as constituency candidates in the election, and

It should also be stated that the number of elected constituency candidates
should be subtracted from the party seats of a party. Perhaps (3)(d) takes
care of that but I can't see how.

>(b) party candidates who are no longer eligible to be members in the
>Legislative Assembly, such that the first seat will be offered to the party
>candidate named first in priority on the party list, and subsequent seats
>shall be offered to party candidates as they appear in descending priority on
>the party list.

Otherwise this looks good, better than anything that's used in North
America now, to my knowledge.

The elections use paper ballots, separate ballots for the different types
of seats. They could be easily counted by piling, but the bill says that a
record has to be made of each vote as they are counted, which slows the
process down.

Each ballot comes with a stub and a counterfoil. The voter's voter number
is written on the stub which is torn off. When the voter has marked the
ballot, the counterfoil is checked to make sure that it was the ballot
paper given to the voter. A similar system is used in Britain. In Finland
the marked ballot paper is stamped, which presumably serves the same
purpose.

Olli Salmi