[EM] STV and weighted positional methods

[James Gilmour]

Kathy Dopp  > Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2009 7:33 PM
> Obviously I did not express myself clearly enough for you. 
> When a minority group lives concentrated in particular 
> geographic districts then single-member districts give them 
> good representation.

In fact, the BEST method of ensuring fair representation for ALL minorities, including those concentrated in particular localities,
is to elect all the members at large.  If the voting support for any particular minority is large enough to justify one seat on the
city council, then that's what they will win.  No single-member district system can ever ensure that.

What we see with single-member district systems around the world is that the boundaries of the single-member districts are
persistently gerrymandered, either to obtain representation for some minority or to ensure that a minority that should be
represented is denied that representation.  Even when the drawing of the boundaries is in the hands of an independent Boundary
Commission, the requirement to draw boundaries around single-member districts can, unintentionally, have either or both of these
effects.

The ONLY way to ensure fair (proportional) representation for ALL minorities (those geographically concentrated and those dispersed)
and all majorities, is to elect all the members of the assembly together (at large), or at least, if it is a large assembly (e.g.
state legislature), to elect the members from as few multi-member districts as is practical.  But that is not enough  -  you also
need a sensitive voting system that will give fair representation of the voters' expressed wishes, and that's where STV-PR comes in,
with one single vote per voter.

James
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