[EM] Question for STV-PR supporters

[James Gilmour]

Alex asked:
> I have an honest question for people who think that STV-PR and related
> methods are the best way to implement proportional representation in
> public elections.  I'm not trying to be combative, I'm just curious.
> 
> How many members should a typical legislative district elect?  I doubt
> anybody would seriously propose using STV to elect 
> representatives for,
> say, a 50-member district, since the number of candidates 
> might be a few
> hundred.  Obviously voters wouldn't have to rank all 300 candidates or
> whatever, but the ballot would still be pretty imposing.
> 
> So what district size would you recommend?  Or, what is the typical
> district size in places that use STV-PR for public elections?


STV-PR can be used for any numbers.  The largest I know is about 450
candidates for 120 places on the council of a UK statutory professional
body.  But that is extremely unusual and is far from desirable, for a
whole variety of reasons.


Examples of numbers in current public elections by STV-PR
===========================================
Northern Ireland Assembly:
18 constituencies (= "districts") each returning 6 members.

Northern Ireland District Councils (26 local authorities):
4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 members per "district electoral area" (DEA).
Councils are divided into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 DEAs.
Extreme examples:
Fewest DEAs = 2 returning 7 and 8 members respectively.
Most DEAs = 8 , with three returning 7 members and five returning 6
members.

Northern Ireland Members of the European Parliament
3 MEPs elected in one constituency.


Republic of Ireland
Dail (lower house): 42 constituencies: 14 with 3 TDs; 13 with 4 TDs; 15
with 5 TDs.
Seanad (upper house): 43 members elected by 5 vocational panels: 5, 11,
11,  9, 7.
			6 elected by two universities: 3, 3.

Republic of Ireland local authorities
Authorities electing all members in one constituency:
4 Borough Councils: 12 members each.
49 Urban District Councils: 3 with 12 members; 46 with 9 members.
26 Town Corporations: 9 members each.

Authorities divided into several "local election areas" (LEAs):
31 County Councils divided into 2 to 6 LEAs, returning from 3 to 7
members each.
5 County Borough Councils divided into 3 to 12 LEAs, returning 3 to 7
members each.


Malta House of Representatives
65 members elected from 13 election districts with 5 members each.


Australia
Federal Senate
Single dissolution: 6 members from each State
Double dissolution: 12 members from each State.

More later.

Does this List have an associated FILES archive where documents and
graphs can be posted?
James.