How should our country be governed?
Most people would like our country to be governed by a democratically elected parliament. This is called representative democracy. The basis of representative democracy is that the views of the elected representatives (the parliament) reflect the views of the people who elect them.
What range of views should be represented?
Most people would like the parliament to represent the views of the people who elect them. Unfortunately, many parliaments in Australia are comprised of members (or representatives) from single-member electoral districts. Typically, these are won with just over 50% of the vote, which means that almost half the people in each district aren’t represented by a member that they voted for. We can fix this by changing from single-member districts to multi-member districts. For example, in a 5-member district, only a sixth of the people in each district end up with a representative that they didn’t vote for.
How can we understand voters’ views?
Most people would like each person to have a single vote, and for their vote to transferred to another candidate (instead of just being thrown away) if their first preferred candidate doesn’t have a chance of being elected. This is called the Single Transferable Vote (STV). The single transferable vote (STV) form of proportional representation (PR) is called PR-STV.
How can we ensure each member is chosen by voters?
Most people would like members of parliament to be directly elected by the people, even if one resigns. However, most people would also like to avoid the cost of by-elections. We can deliver both of these features by choosing the new member by re-examining the votes to find out who the people would have elected instead, had that member not been in the contest. This is called countback; it preserves the wishes of the electors, avoids the cost of by-elections, and ensures that all representatives are directly elected (as opposed to undemocratic party appointments).
How can we give a fair go to each candidate?
Most people would like each candidate to have an equal or fair go at being elected. We can fix this by using neutral ballot paper formats: instead of all ballot papers being exactly the same, different ballot papers have candidate’s names listed in different orders. This is called Robson Rotation. Each name will appear at the top on some ballot papers and at the middle or bottom on others. That method of printing ballot papers almost eliminates the effect of the “donkey vote”, thus giving all candidates an equal starting point.
How can we ensure a future government won’t weaken democracy?
Most people would like a good democratic electoral system to be safe from changes by a bare majority. We can project electoral systems by entrenching them, as was done in the Australian Capital Territory, so that they can only be altered by either a referendum or a 2/3 majority in its Legislative Assembly.
Where is PR-STV used?
PR-STV is used by:
- Houses of government: TAS House of Assembly and ACT Legislative Assembly
- Houses of review: Australia’s Senate; NSW, VIC, WA, and SA Legislative Councils
- Local government: All councils in NSW and TAS, and most councils in VIC and SA
Summary
The single transferable vote (STV) form of proportional representation (PR) with multi-member electorates is the best way to elect a parliament. It delivers representative democracy, where the varied views of the elected representatives reflect the varied views of the people that elect them.