[EM] STV and weighted positional methods

[James Gilmour]

> On Sun, Feb 1, 2009 at 1:43 PM, James Gilmour wrote:
> > 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.

Kathy Dopp  > Sent: Sunday, February 01, 2009 10:30 PM 
> Gee. I wonder why in practice that never seems to work in 
> locales where STV methods have been implemented.

Please provide references to the evidence for this statement with regard to STV-PR.  (NB My comments related assemblies elected by
STV-PR, not to IRV elections.)


> Simple correct mathematics say that your claim is wrong as 
> far as single-member district systems.

Here are the results of the 2005 UK General Election (UK House of Commons at Westminster, London) for the 59 single-member electoral
districts in Scotland in which the "winner" is determined by plurality.  Only four political parties contested all districts and
only candidates of those four parties won seats.  The fifth party contested 58 of the 59 districts.	

Party		%votes		%seats		
Labour		39.5		69.5	
Lib Dem	22.6		18.6	
SNP		17.7		10.2
Conservative	15.8		  1.7
SSP		 1.9		
16 other parties	 2.5

That doesn't present a picture of fair (proportional) representation to me.  NB These results are fairly typical of single-member
plurality elections in the UK.

In that election 39 of the 59 MPs (66%) were elected without a majority of the votes in the respective single-member districts.  The
lowest level of support for a "winner" was  31.4% of the votes in that single-member electoral district.

54% of those who voted in that election (1,265,097 voters) elected no-one and have no representative in the UK House of Commons, the
most powerful House in our Parliamentary system.

If these 59 MPs had been elected "at large" by STV-PR the results of that election would have been VERY different.  NB I do not
advocate electing 59 MPs "at large"  -  it is not necessary to elect so many in each multi-member district to obtain the advantages
STV-PR would give in fair representation.

James



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