Here's a miniature MMP election for illustration purposes.
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Explaining MMP
There was a convention of 100 delegates.
38 delegates were from A
19 from B
20 from C
10 from D
8 from E
5 from F.
They need to elect an executive.
There are ten tables, each with ten conventioneers.
It is decided to have one delegate elected from each table.
Here are how the delegates happened to be sitting:
In one table -- 4A, 2B, 3C, 1D They elect an A
In one table -- 5A, 2C, 1D, 2E elect A
In one table -- 8A, 1B, 1C elect A
In one table -- 6A, 4B elect A
In one table -- 8A, 2B elect A
In one table -- 7A, 1B, 2C elect A
In one table -- 4B, 1C, 3D, 1E, 1F elect B
In one table -- 4B, 1C, 3D, 1E, 1F elect B
In one table -- 4C, 3E, 3F elect C
In one table -- 1B, 6C, 2D, 1E, elect C
By this method, six As were put on committee - they had the power to out-vote the other two groups on the executive.
But they all saw that it was unfair that 40 of the hundred delegates should have control.
It was decided that each type of delegate - other than A - should also send delegates to the committee to give them a larger measure of their due representation.
It was decided to add five more seats for the types other than A, who had more seats than they were due anyway. Each group with 18 delegates would get two extra executive members, each group with nine or more delegates would get one extra executive member.
18 Bs elected 2 more executive members
20 Cs elected 2 more executive members
Ds elected 1 more executive member
Es sent no additional executive members
Fs sent no additional executive members.
The new committee thus had 6 As, 4 Bs, 4 Cs, 1 D
The new committee had 15 delegates, and a majority thereof was 8.
No one had enough seats to have a majority by themselves but Bs and Cs put their seats together and got a majority that way. The As did not have majority by themselves because they did not have enough executive members by themselves but didn't have any friends to help them get majority.
That is how MMP works.
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Anyways, that is how I picture it.
STV/Gove plan
Of course, if the tables had been pushed together and the delegates had elected their table reps through STV, the resulting executive would have been even more fair.
such as this case:
these five put together:
In one table -- 4A, 2B, 3C, 1D In one table -- 5A, 2C, 1D, 2E In one table -- 8A, 1B, 1C In one table -- 6A, 4B
In one table -- 4B, 1C, 3D, 1E, 1F totals 23 A, 11B, 7C, 5D, 3E, 1F
50 delegates. five seats quota is 9
to avoid vote transfers, the Gove plan could be used where each group says where their un-needed votes would go. This saves doing vote transfers candidate by candidate.
Assuming Ds help Cs, then Bs. Cs help Bs, then Ds. E, F help each other first then A
Elected 3 As, 1B, 1C
In one table -- 4C, 3E, 3F
In one table -- 8A, 2B In one table -- 7A, 1B, 2C In one table -- 4B, 1C, 3D, 1E, 1F In one table -- 1B, 6C, 2D, 1E,
Totals 15 As, 8 Bs, 13 Cs, 5 Ds, 5 Es, 4 Fs.
50 delegates. five seats quota is 9
To avoid vote transfers, the Gove plan could be used where each group says where their un-needed votes would go. this saves doing vote transfers candidate by candidate
assuming Ds help Cs then Bs. Cs help Bs, then Ds. E, F help each other first then A
Elected 1A, 1B, 2C, 1E.
total executive 4 As, 2 Bs, 3 Cs, 1D.
Thus a well-rounded executive even before additional MMP members added.
In fact with these results the convention probably would not have had to elect the additional members anyway, thus avoiding the debate on whether to have additional members and who they should be to make the executive filled by table reps fair.
I did not gerrymander these table groupings on purpose to make a point, if that is what you are thinking.
A similar random grouping could be done by giving each table at a convention a number (or colourful label!) and drawing the numbers or names of the tables out of a hat to form the groups.
An odd number of reps in each district (table grouping) has been proven to be best.
Very simple and effective.
Thanks for reading.
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