Elections in two Australian states have just been held. In Tasmania, the lower House of Assembly elected by PR-STV has 25 seats in 5 x 5-seat constituencies, so gives good proportional representation. See <http://www.abc.net.au/elections/tas/2010/> and http://www.electoral.tas.gov.au>
In South Australia the lower house is elected by "instant runoff" aka "the alternative vote," STV in single seat constituencies, so with 7.8% of first choice votes the Greens have no seats. It's no more proportional than our first-past-the-post. <http://www.abc.net.au/elections/sa/2010> However, the situation in the SA upper house, the Legislative Council, is different. Half its 22 members are elected at a time, and the whole state is one PR-STV constituency. so with 6.5% of first choices the Greens have one seat. <http://www.abc.net.au/elections/sa/2010/guide/lc-results.htm> If you look at the details you see that the Australian Greens are able to run strong women candidates, and with PR-STV proportional representation, to elect them. Doug Woodard, St. Catharines, Ontario Fw by JG No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.791 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2769 - Release Date: 03/25/10 07:33:00 ---- Election-Methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info
