h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Single Transferable Vote (STV) - A4199141
Author: Kia_Shuma - U1494527

This is my first draft for your valued comments. All advice welcome.

Hi there! This is an interesting concept, but it really isn't clear from this entry how it would work in practice. Would it involve ranking votes like with Instant Runoff Voting (IRV)?

If you haven't seen it yet, you might find this entry interesting -- A1905158


Mikey

Ranking yes but the system is different in that no one wins by a majority. Any votes over what would be required to be elected (usually around 25%in a four seat constituency) would be transferred to the other candidates.

I love and loathe it when someone beats me to the punch.

This is a good foundation however knowing as much about STV as I do I can see some gaps that need filling in before thsi is ready for the edited guide. I'll look at it closely later and give some suggestions to improve it.

DD

Hmmm.... the author appears to have absconded, so you may get this one yet, DD.

Typical just as I'm gearing up for my SECOND election of the year.

I'm still waiting on comments before I submit the final draft. All comments welcome, especially those comments that add humour to the subject.

> I'm still waiting on comments before I submit the final draft.

That isn't generally how Peer Review works. People make comments, and you respond -- either by making the requested changes and letting the people here know, or by posting here and explaining why you disagree with the suggestions. Most people won't bother posting more suggestions until they can see that you've addressed the previous ones -- otherwise, they might well be wasting their time.

If you want your entry to make it through Peer Review and into the Edited Guide, you'll need to keep participating actively in the thread, and not disappear again.


Mikey

Mine comments will not be coming quickly I am days away from being up to my eyeballs in a Westminster by election

I can't help if i am in demand. The universe is a big place you know. As soon as I receive a comment I will respond.

Hi, Kia-Shuma!

I think the first problem with this entry is it's not clear who you are aiming at. Are you trying to compare the STV system with the first-past-the-post system specifically with regard to Parliamentary elections in the UK? A lot of the entry sounds general, but then you talk about politicians influencing constituency boundaries, and mention the Electoral Reform Society, which seems to refer just to the UK.

"The Electoral Reform Society state that the system of STV can be used to allow the electorate to vote for candidates for reasons other than the political ideals of the candidate, For Example looks or hair colour. This obviously helps if the reason for the candidates unpopularity is due to them being a political basket case." This is really a very superficial approach and doesn't help the reader to understand the system.

You will need a description of how STV works, with much more detail than you've given here.

Then you should mention those countries that already use the system, and their experience.

STV works very differently in single-seat constituencies and multi-seat constituencies. Here in Ireland we've had multi-seat STV voting since 1922, so we have plenty of experience of both the advantages and disadvantages of the system.

Advantages (from the Irish experience):
--The party representation in the Dail (Irish House of Commons) is normally a very good reflection of the proportion of overall votes.
--Most voters' views are represented, since even if their first preference is eliminated their later preferences are likely to have some effect.
--There is competition between candidates of the same party, which means that the party hierarchy are less able to dictate matters at a a constituency level.

Disadvantages (from the Irish experience):
--Like all forms of PR, there is likely to be a range of parties, with rarely an outright majority. This means that coalition governments are common. (However, Ireland is a good example of the fact that coaltion government can be quite stable.)
--The competition between candidates of the same party encourages a situation where TDs spend too much time on local constituency matters, protecting their local vote, and not enough time actually working on legislation.


Azara

If you take a more light hearted approach in describing your experiences with STV then it is more likely that your words will mean something to me.

If my words above don't mean anything to you, then perhaps you should read up a bit more on the whole topic...

Azara

I haven't read anything light hearted in any of the literature either I'm afraid.

If you can give an explanation of how the system actually works, then that would certainly help.

You've said that this is a first draft, but if you're not actually interested in improving it, then I'll leave you to it...

Azara

I welcome your input.

Any takers on a move to the Flemarket?

Here.

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