[EM] electing a variable number of seats

[James Gilmour]

Charlie
I see two problems here.

1.  You do not give the conditions under which the constitution of this organisation allows the number of board members to be
varied.

2.  More importantly, someone needs to define the purpose of this election a great deal better.  Who would have the power to add one
extra winner with a view to "improving representation" and who would decide what "improved representation" might be?  And just who
exactly would have the power to reduce the number elected board members with a view to "eliminating polarizing candidates" and who
would decide that the last winner was a "polarizing candidate" who should be excluded?

The purpose of board elections in democratic organisations is usually to fill the current vacancies with the requisite number of
candidates who best represent the members who vote in the election.  It seems a bit strange, to say the VERY least, that someone
(undefined) should have the power to vary that by adding a board member to "improve representation" or by excluding an otherwise
elected board member who is considered "polarizing".  If the members of the organisation, using a fair and properly representative
voting system, elect a "polarizing" candidate, it is surely not for  anyone to have the power to over-ride that democratic decision.

Or have I missed something?

James Gilmour


> -----Original Message-----
> From: election-methods-bounces at lists.electorama.com 
> [mailto:election-methods-bounces at lists.electorama.com] On 
> Behalf Of Charlie DeTar
> Sent: Thursday, February 17, 2011 3:39 AM
> To: election-methods at lists.electorama.com
> Subject: [EM] electing a variable number of seats
> 
> 
> Howdy,
> 
> I'm on the board of a small non-profit, and have been tasked 
> with revising the portion of the bylaws that defines how to 
> elect the board of directors.  Having had some exposure to 
> better election methods through a colleague, I'm interested 
> in exploring how we might use a ranked voting system 
> effectively.  Most of the methods I've seen, however, are 
> intended for electing a single winner -- and for the board of 
> directors, we have multiple seats.  Additionally, the number 
> of seats is variable.
> 
> I'm looking for methods that would more or less "optimally" 
> (by variable definitions of optimal) elect a variable number 
> of people.  "Single Transferable Vote" seems to be the most 
> talked-about multi-winner ranked system; but the vote 
> transfer process requires a pre-defined number of seats to 
> fill.  It seems like the option to have a variable number of 
> seats opens up possibilities for improving representation by 
> adding a winner, or eliminating polarizing candidates by removing one.
> 
> Thoughts?
> 
> best,
> Charlie
> ----
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