[EM] Request for help: complex election

[James Gilmour]

> > > A British charity that I chair is looking for a new election
> > > method for its Board of Trustees.  The scenario is a little 
> > > more complex than typical political elections, and I haven't 
> > > been able to find anything on how this should be tackled.
> > 
> > You should use STV-PR for the two separate elections.
> 
> Really?  Why do you advocate this approach?
> 
> I was under the impression that PR wouldn't be appropriate in 
> the absence of parties; was I wrong?

STV is unique among PR voting systems in that it is not based on parties but is based on candidates.
If the election is contested by parties (or other recognised groups) and the voters vote on strictly
party lines, party PR will result.  But the voters are free to vote how ever they want.  So they can
ignore the parties, vote across party lines, vote by gender, by ethnic origin, by religious
affiliation or by whatever motivates them to respond to the candidates who have offered themselves
for election.

The unique objective of STV-PR is proportional representation of the voters' views.  Party PR may be
one outcome, but it not the objective of an STV election.  This distinction may not be important to
most people when considering major public elections, but it is very important for organisations like
yours, seeking to elect a representative council or committee.

> 
> Of course, the real issue I raised was that we wanted one 
> combined election, rather than two separate ones.  How were 
> you proposing we come up with a final result, from the two 
> separate ones?

I haven't given any serious thought to this, because I wouldn't do it.  But it is possible to
implement STV in a whole variety of way, with various constraints to guarantee certain outcomes even
when these are not the representative wishes of the voters.  I have little doubt that someone could
devise the complex mixture of rules that would do what you want.  But I would not do it.  You have
two very distinct constituencies of electors  -  keep the two elections separate.
James