Choice Voting-Proportional Representation

Electoral System Reform for Greenbelt

Introduction

The principle of proportionality A majority of voters deserves a majority of

representation. But every sufficiently large group of like-minded voters

has a right to representation in proportion to its share of the vote.

As many people as possible should have their vote count toward representation.

These goals are achieved through proportional representation.

What is Choice Voting

A voting system where voters maximize their voting power by ranking candidates.

Ensures that voters elect a candidate they like and do not lose out on representation due to vote splitting.

Consistently resulted in fair representation of minorities, most recently in Cambridge, MA and New York City.

Promotes coalition building and fosters positive campaigning.

Achieves proportional representation: Big groupings of voters win more seats, small groupings win fewer seats, everyone gets a fair share

History of Choice Voting in US

1914, National Municipal League adopted PR in its ‘model city charter’ Spurred use in two dozen cities including:

– Sacramento, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo, Cambridge– Significant adoption in New York City in 1936– Elected the first African American legislator

Choice voting worked well– Increased representation, decreased power of political machines, reduced

wasted votes Abandoning of PR (1940s, 50s)

– Well financed opposition, racial elements– As of 1962, only Cambridge, MA retained PR

How Choice Voting works

Voters rank candidates in order of preference (e.g., 1st, 2nd, 3rd).

A candidate wins a seat by receiving a share of the vote roughly equal to the number of votes divided by the number of seats.

Voters can rank as many candidates as they want to. Ranking candidates will not affect the chances of a

voter’s higher-ranked candidates being elected.

Victory Threshold

The victory threshold is set to the lowest share of the vote that only a winning number of candidates can receive to allow as many voters as possible to elect a candidate.

The victory threshold is calculated and candidates win by receiving a number of votes equal to or greater than the victory threshold.

The victory threshold equals [Total Votes Cast / (Seats +1)] +1 vote

For example, for 2,180 voters to elect 9 council seats, winning a seat requires 219 votes or 10%)

How Choice Voting Works: An Example

We are electing 4 representatives; there are 8 candidates.

Each candidate needs a certain number of votes to be elected: this is the threshold.

750 people have voted, so the threshold is 151 votes.

*The threshold is calculated by dividing the total number of voters 750 by the number of seats to be filled 4+1, plus 1: (750/5)+1 = 151

We look at all the ballots, and see how many first preferences (#1 choices) each candidate received.

020406080

100120140160180200

A B C D E F G H

This shows the number of first choices for each candidate

Candidate D has enough votes to win, (she has reached the 151 vote threshold)

But we still need to elect 3 more people…

Elected

Candidate D has more votes than she needed to be elected (more than the threshold). This is called a surplus.

She has a surplus of 50 votes, which we do not want to waste.

Elected

Surplus

We look at all of Candidate D’s ballots, and transfer the portion that was not necessary for her to be elected to the second preferences (#2 choices).

First Choice

Second Choice

Voter’s Ballot

Candidate A 8

Candidate B 5

Candidate C 7

Candidate D 1

Candidate E 4

Candidate F 2

Candidate G 6

Candidate H 3

Most of the surplus is transferred to other Candidate F, but some goes to Candidate H.

No other candidate has enough votes to be elected, and there are no more surplus votes to transfer.

Transferred Surplus

Elected

Now we eliminate the candidate with the fewest votes – Candidate C…

…and transfer his votes according to the second choices on the ballots.

Votes to transfer

Elected

Some of these votes go to another Candidate B, but some go to Candidate H.

Transferred Votes

ElectedNow we see if anyone else has received enough votes to be

elected…

Candidate B now has enough votes to be elected…

…and more surplus choices to transfer.

Surplus

Elected

Elected

Transferring Votes In Summary:

a) Transfer the surpluses of elected candidates, according to the next choice on the ballots (the next elected candidate who has not already been elected or excluded), and when there are no more surpluses to transfer…

b) …exclude the candidates with the fewest votes, and transfer their votes according to the next available choices on the ballot papers…

…until 4 candidates are elected.

Here is the final result in our example:

The successful candidates are Candidates B, D, F and H.

Elected

Elected

Elected

Elected

In Summary:

Proportional Representation is a fair and representative electoral system used by a majority of democracies.

Helps increase voter choice and turnout by fostering competitive elections.

Encourages more positive campaigning, as candidates will ask voters for 2nd and 3rd rankings

Leads to more accurate representation of women and minorities in government.

Allows broader representation by removing unfair barriers to independent candidates

Makes every vote count, by eliminating spoilers and wasted votes