Buying votes is much less effective under PR (fair voting in MMDs) than under FPTP.
for one thing, just a few votes sometimes secures seat under FPTP where there are much fewer votes in play.
say two swing districts, a shiftof only 500 votes may determine the winners
but under PR, a shift of 500 votes will affect only one seat at most.
In NSW in 2022 with DM-21 STV, the final seat was taken by Rachel [Meadows?] who had 10,000 more votes than her nearest competitor.
if a set quantity of money shifts one vote, it takes much more money to shift enough to get an additonal seat under PR than under FPTP in many cases.
in some other FPTP districts, the seat could go any way so ithe situation is loose but in an almost random way, with 40 percent voters staying home or coming out, and the winer winning without a set number of votes but only having at least one more vote than the second-place candidate.
(and conversely under PR, every seat is up for grabs by a shift of a quota or less of votes, so there is less problem with foreign interference at the nomination stage.
under FPTP due to the limited choices offered to voters (one candidate per party), (only two or three candidates with a real chance of winning) a successful nomination is a way to pretty much guarantee a seat often - if you win the nominaion of the incumbent party.
Not so under PR, where sometimes a party retains the seat but with a diff. elected member even if the incumbent was runing for re-election.
=========
Comments