[EM] PR/STV Hybrid for multi-winner?

[Mark Borg]

One must be cautious when developing a STV system especially if designed on
Malta's example.

Please note that the implementation of STV in Malta has practically meant
the triumph of the two-party system.

A third party effectively needs about 16.6% of the vote in any one
constituency. The 16.6% requirement arises from having 13 electoral
districts, each electing five seats. Therefore the quota is worked out as
the number of votes in that constituency, divided by six, plus 1 vote. So
technically, nationally you could have 16% of the vote and still not have a
single seat. Of course this does not happen because people consider a vote
for a third party as a wasted vote (even though they seem to know very well
how transferability works) and opt to vote to the less evil of the other two
major parties. So the real disproportionality of the system is not exposed
and the system justifies itself.

What is being proposed by Malta's third party (Alternattiva Demokratika -
the Green Party) is that on top of STV, there will be a national list PR
(very much a modified MMP).

Even more disconcerting was an attempt by the two major parties some 9 years
ago to disallow transferability between candidates of different parties (so
much for STV!). This would have effectively sealed the two party system for
prosperity. Fortunately this attempt failed.

More on Malta's STV at www.maltadata.com

Ciao

Mark Borg
Information Management Consultant
UNDP Fiji Elections Project
Elections Office
Gladstone Road
Suva - Fiji
Tel. (679) 304640
Mobile: (679) 991681
Fax: (679) 302436
Email 1: mark.borg at undp.org
Email 2: mb at markborg.com
Website: www.fijielections.com
Personal Website: www.markborg.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Olli Salmi" <olli.salmi at uusikaupunki.fi>
To: <election-methods-list at eskimo.com>
Sent: Friday, February 01, 2002 8:14 AM
Subject: Re: [EM] PR/STV Hybrid for multi-winner?


> At 19:42 +0200 25.1.2002, Adam Tarr wrote:
> >So my idea is this: Implement STV, but allow a _party_ to be entered as a
> >line
> >in the ballot.
>
> This, if I understand you right, is the system in use in senate elections
> in Australia. 95% of the voters follow party recommendations
> (http://www.aec.gov.au/pubs/factfiles/factsheet7.htm). It's much the same
> in Malta (http://www.maltadata.com) even though you have no possibility to
> vote "above the line" there. You might as well have open list PR, which is
> much easier to implement.
>
> Good sites on PR:
> Douglas Amy
> http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/polit/damy/BeginningReading/howprwor.htm
> Mike Ossipoff
> http://www.barnsdle.demon.co.uk/vote/listCan.html
>
> If you can read German there are more.
>
> Olli Salmi
>
>
>
>
>