[EM] STV and weighted positional methods

[James Gilmour]

Kathy Dopp  > Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2009 6:03 PM
> > Are you opposed to any kind of PR system?
> 
> Only if you believe that all PR systems only allow voters to 
> cast one ranked or rated ballot for casting a vote for a 
> multi-seat at-large contest.  Voters should always be able to 
> fill out as many separate votes as the number of candidates 
> that they are allowed to vote into office. If two at-large 
> seats, then two separate votes, ranked, rated, or plurality.

This statement shows that the writer has no understanding of the basic requirements of a voting system that will elect a properly
representative assembly.

A properly representative assembly is one in which the proportions of seats won by candidates supported by different opinion groups
among the voters broadly reflect the relative sizes of those opinion groups among the voters.  (In partisan elections, for "opinion
groups" read "political parties".)

If N candidates are to be elected at large and each voter has N "separate votes", then the assembly will be properly representative
only by chance, no matter how the N "separate votes" are counted (ranked, rated or plurality.)  In fact, multiple-plurality (at
large) is one of the worst voting systems ever devised.

James Gilmour
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com 
Version: 8.0.176 / Virus Database: 270.10.16/1928 - Release Date: 31/01/2009 20:03