> Date: Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:09:42 +0100 > From: "James Gilmour" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: [Election-Methods] IRV hurts racial minorities? > > Whatever the merits or demerits of any single-winner voting system in > respective of minority representation, if you are serious > about representation of minorities, you start by electing the representative > assembly by a sound system of proportional > representation in which all representatives are elected from multi-member > districts (upper limit: whole country = one electoral > district).
I am certain that I am not the only person on this list who has noticed the lack of logical correctness in the above statement. Obviously either single member or multi-member districts can either favor or disfavor minority groups. The factors that determine if minority groups benefit or not include other factors such as how the districts are drawn respective to the population of the minority group and how many candidates one voter can vote for. (If the voter can only vote for one candidate in a multi-member district, that favors minorities more than if voters can vote for multiple candidates because it avoids a strong majority picking all the candidate members of the district.) There seems to be a lot of emotional attachment to a position rather than a willingness to examine facts and reconsider one's position in light of facts. Apparently available data shows IRV is consistent with a voting method that disfavors minorities. Cheers, Kathy ---- Election-Methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info
