Non-PR multiwinner election methods - this subject has fascinated me ever since I started considering the possibility of separate executive assemblies as an alternative to Westminster and presidential institutional forms. It's also an interesting topic given the contemporary situation in Australia with majoritarian houses and with minor parties whose coalition plans don't necessarily reflect the preferred government of their supporters. I'd say it would be better for the choice of governing coalition to be made by _voters_. Here's one idea I've had for such a method. It's somewhat like a cross between an FPP/Cumulative type system and single winner STV (AV). Let n be some integer. 2n-1 is the number of candidates to be elected. Votes are preference-based and counted so that the n highest preferences, not excluded, on each vote are counted equally as votes for relevant candidates. So for instance given n is equal to 2 (3 to be elected) and no-one is excluded yet, the vote- A>B>C>D>E>F means one vote for A and one for B. The candidate with the lowest number of such votes is excluded and this continues until there are only as many non-excluded candidates as there are places to be filled. Ties for exclusion could be broken by first preference votes. In the sense of interparty competition, the system aggregates toward a "quasi-quota" of 1/3 to begin with (two major groups) and then decides who gets the one seat that means a majority of the assembly. For instance, in a heavily strict party competition, A1>A2>B1>B2>C1>C2 x 3 B1>B2>A1>A2>C1>C2 x 2 C1>C2>B1>B2>A1>A2 x 4 scores would be A1 3, A2 3, B1 2, B2 2, C1 4, C2 4. B1 and B2 are tied for exclusion but B1 has more first-preference votes so B2 is excluded. The votes are now A1>A2>B1>C1>C2 x 3 B1>A1>A2>C1>C2 x 2 C1>C2>B1>A1>A2 x 4 and scores are A1 5, A2 3, B1 2, C1 4, C2 4. B1 is excluded. A1>A2>C1>C2 x 3 A1>A2>C1>C2 x 2 C1>C2>A1>A2 x 4 and scores are A1 5, A2 5, C1 4, C2 4. C1 and C2 are tied for exclusion. C1 has more first preferences so C2 is excluded. A1,A2, and C1 are elected. A variation on the majoritarian theme would be to make the number to be elected 3n-1. This would have a tendency to elect 3 groups, instead of 2. The basic formula is pn-1 where p is the expected number of groups elected. PS Is anyone interested in methods of election for various roles at once, for instance a party room election for government ministers etc.? I've been trying to think of how to introduce PR principles so various factions receive a particular number in cabinet, etc. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- History never repeats itself. It stutters.
