Quote:
Originally Posted by photon
You guys have talked about the "first past the post system", and I've never really given it any thought, but what's an example of a "better" system? Someone mentioned proportional representation, but how does that work in a practical sense (i.e. how would an election be setup)?
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BC had a referendum a couple years ago on the Single Transferable Vote system. Basically, instead of voting for one candidate, you would rank several by order of preference. If a candidate achieves a majority of eligible votes votes in the region, they are declared elected and all further ballots with their name are counted for the second candidate. Losing candidates are lopped off as well, and those second choices are used, then third choices, then fourth, etc., until the required number of seats are filled.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Transferable_Vote
Complaints of the system are that it is very complicated, and that with huge multi-person ridings, you would lose the advantage (if one exists), of having a local representative.