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Tom Monto

Mauritius -- Block Voting. flawed but so easy to improve

Block Voting is currently used in the small country of Mauritius.

Most of the country's national legislators are elected in three-seat districts with two elected in one district. (and a small number of most-popular losers selected as national top-up).

Each voter can cast as many votes as seats to fill.


Constituency No.1 - Grand River North West and Port Louis West

Total Number of Valid Ballot Papers Counted: 28,823

so about 29,000 voters voted but 89,000 votes were cast.

The most-popular candidate recedived 10,000 votes which is said to be 35 percent but this is 35 percent of voters who voted, not votes cast.

The three most-popular candidates - the winners - were elected with total of "99 percent" about 28,450 of votes cast.

but barely more than a third of votes cast.

Two of the winners were of same party and the other of a differnt party.

the range of sentiment toward individual candidates of the leading party (LAlliance Nationale) meant one got enough fewer votes to allow the leading candidate of a different party to take a seat. otherwise a one-party sweep likely would have been the result.

No majority support proven, no proportionality of representation produced, murkiness of results and excessive number of votes to count.

there is no lack of democratic fervor - 40 candidates ran for the three seats -- most of them must have known they had no chance.


In other districts much the same results --

a party took all or almost all the seats in each district with no more than minority support, it seems.

L'Alliance Nationale took two seats in district No. 2 and No. 3, 15, 18

L'Alliance Morisien took one-party sweep of seats in District No. 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14

L'Alliance Morisien took two seats in No. 5 and 6, 12, 16, 17

MMM took two seats in District 19 and a clean sweep in District No. 20.

Organisation du Peuple de Rodrigues took clean one-party sweep of seats in Rodrigues.

so simple just to give each voter just one vote and then no murkiness -- and likely more balance and fairness in the representation produced.



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