PROPORTIONAL REPERSENTATION (PR) OHIO: Ohio has 16 Representatives to Congress. In the last election (2018) they elected 12 Republicans and 4 Democrats. The state has been accrued of Gerrymandering and the issue is now before the US Supreme Court. I added all of the votes of all 16 congressional districts and found that the Republican got 52% and Democrats got 48% (just between the two main parties). A fair representation of the voters of Ohio would be 8 Republicans and 8 Democrats (52%/48% *16 = rounded to 8/8) based on the votes cast in the last election. Was the cause Gerrymandering? Let us do a fair redistricting of the state so that each district reflects the state as a whole (52%R/48%D) (Not really possible, however) and had a new election. The result would 16 Republicans and 0 Democrats, where the Republicans would win every districts (52%/48%) with no Gerrymandering. The real problem in Ohio (and in most states) is the "Winner take all" single district system. PROPORTIONAL REPERSENTATION (PR): To do PR you need a ranked list of candidates by party (top to bottom) and a percent voting for each party at the state level (say 52%R/48%D). For Ohio we would pick the top 8 on the Democrats list and the top 8 on the Republicans list and they would be Ohio's representatives to Congress. Traditionally there would be no districts and the party rankings are done at the state level (all state party members vote on the rankings). A party member would vote for 1 (or alternatively vote for 16). Ok, this is where I have a problem with this method. It would be hard for any Republican (or Democrat) voter to know, or even how to rank 16 state wide candidates. Secondly, more of the higher ranked candidates could come from the cities and would not truly represent some the rural areas of the state. Lastly, a person in Ohio could not tell who is representing them in Congress. ALTERNATIVE (PR): Let us keep the congressional districts (16). We will then have each district vote by party preference ('which party do you prefer"). Some district may have 67% to 33% republican preference votes, while others districts may have 80% to 28% democratic preference votes. We add the party preference votes of each district to get a state level preference vote total. Let us assume that it is about (52%R/48%D). We would use this to determine the states "preferred" proportion of representatives to Congress (8R/8D). Now in the primary each party would vote for their candidate to represent them in each of the 16 districts (the same as current). The Republican candidates in each district with their top 8 percent's (%) preference votes would be elected to Congress. The Democratic candidate in each district with their top 8 percent's (%) preference votes would also be elected to Congress. Don Hoffard Aloha, Oregon

Recommend the Cambridge PR local elections method. I believe it is possible to download their computer count. Last I heard, it relied on statistical probability for valid surplus transfer of votes in order of preference. A best Gregory method transfer, or the Meek method STV would be better still (tho not perfect). But all of them are voter-centered preferential PR methods, which is democratically far preferable to party-centered PR, where only party members would get to rank the party lists, with no cross-party preferences allowed. No official party list system, in the world, that I know of, allows the voters a preference vote at all, in which respect these proposals, as I understand (or misunderstand) them, would only so allow party members (by definition imprisoned within their party for preference). from Richard Lung. On 28/05/2019 02:29, Don Hoffard wrote: > > PROPORTIONAL REPERSENTATION (PR) OHIO: Ohio has 16 Representatives to > Congress. In the last election (2018) they elected 12 Republicans and > 4 Democrats.  The state has been accrued of Gerrymandering and the > issue is now before the US Supreme Court. I added all of the votes of > all 16 congressional districts and found that the Republican got 52% > and Democrats got 48% (just between the two main parties). A fair > representation of the voters of Ohio would be 8 Republicans and 8 > Democrats (52%/48% *16 = rounded to 8/8) based on the votes cast in > the last election.  Was the cause Gerrymandering? Let us do a fair > redistricting of the state so that each district reflects the state as > a whole (52%R/48%D) (Not really possible, however) and had a new > election. The result would 16 Republicans and 0 Democrats, where the > Republicans would win every districts (52%/48%) with no > Gerrymandering. The real problem in Ohio (and in most states) is the > “Winner take all” single district system. > > PROPORTIONAL REPERSENTATION (PR): To do PR you need a ranked list of > candidates by party (top to bottom) and a percent voting for each > party at the state level (say 52%R/48%D). For Ohio we would pick the > top 8 on the Democrats list and the top 8 on the Republicans list and > they would be Ohio’s representatives to Congress. Traditionally there > would be no districts and the party rankings are done at the state > level (all state party members vote on the rankings). A party member > would vote for 1 (or alternatively vote for 16). Ok, this is where I > have a problem with this method.  It would be hard for any Republican > (or Democrat) voter to know, or even how to rank 16 state wide > candidates. Secondly, more of the higher ranked candidates could come > from the cities and would not truly represent some the rural areas of > the state. Lastly, a person in Ohio could not tell who is representing > them in Congress. > > ALTERNATIVE (PR):  Let us keep the congressional districts (16).  We > will then have each district vote by party preference (‘which party do > you prefer”). Some district may have 67% to 33% republican preference > votes, while others districts may have 80% to 28% democratic > preference votes. We add the party preference votes of each district > to get a state level preference vote total.  Let us assume that it is > about (52%R/48%D).  We would use this to determine the states > “preferred” proportion of representatives to Congress (8R/8D). Now in > the primary each party would vote for their candidate to represent > them in each of the 16 districts (the same as current). The Republican > candidates in each district with their top 8 percent’s (%) preference > votes would be elected to Congress. The Democratic candidate in each > district with their top 8 percent’s (%) preference votes would also be > elected to Congress. > > Don Hoffard > > Aloha, Oregon > > > ---- > Election-Methods mailing list - seehttps://electorama.com/em for list info