[Any resemblance to a car ad is strictly intentional.]
PR puts the voter in the driving seat! Picture yourself driving down a country road. You are in control, your foot on the gas pedal dictates the speed, your hands on the steering wheel guides the car as it negotiates curves and accelerates on the straights.
But when an election come around, do you have the same feeling? Or do you feel yourself like so many others seeing someone not of your choosing elected as the sole representative in your district?
What would it take to get that same feeling of power and control of driving when you vote?
"What do voters need in their core and what does it take to get a government that responds to that need," one may ask. "What if voters were given the full right to make or un-make a government, could it work?"
The close relationship between drivers and their cars inspired great minds when they contemplated the switch to PR, the intuitive electoral method that seamlessly links voter and elected representatives. In the same way a car and a person are connected through shared interaction, the voter would have the reins deeply of the elected government.
The way a person sitting behind the steering wheel directs the car in its travel is in line with the PR philosophy, with the casting of votes in place of holding the steering wheel and the polling booth in place of the driver's seat.
To put the voter fully in control, PR designers crafted a voting method, leveraging the cutting-edge tools of
(choose any of following that apply: multi-member districts, regional top-up adjustment seats, transferable votes, ranked votes, as-low-as-possible quotas, city-wide districts, at-large adjustment seats based on party percentages, compensatory adjustment seats, etc.)
that smoothly reduce the waste of votes, the seat windfall that fall to the leading party, strictly-minority single-winner representation, and enhances government focus and response to votes cast while flattening voter fatigue and dis-satisfaction.
PR's excellent response to votes cast minimizes distractions, and its streamlined, intuitive design means each of its components -- votes, vote counting, top-up and vote transfers -- are easily performed by voters and election officials and operate within the voter's understanding and trust levels. Each meticulously crafted detail frees the voters to hone in on the choice they are making, enjoying the journey so that they can safely reach their intended destination - to see the government of their choice in power.
While First Past The Post single-winner elections do not closely reflect votes cast, PR is truly responsive. PR awards a majority of seats to the party that takes a majority of votes, awards some seats to those parties that take a medium amount of the votes and awards a seat or two to small parties if their support warrants it. PR prevents the almost-accidental of out-there parties if they do not have a basic threshold to preserve basic dignity in the legislature.
PR has a proven record of not giving more seats to a party with less votes and of giving more seats to a party with more votes, whether that is first preferences or a carefully-worked out mixture of first preferences and back-up preferences transferred from candidates not so fortunate (STV)/ whether it is a scientifically-calculated mixture of district wins and adjustment top-up seats.
The sophisticated PR electoral system is a prime example of the way a voting system works in tandem with voters, sometimes without them even realizing it. Casting votes is a pleasure, with no undue burden placed on voters. Election official too find it pleasant duty to count the votes and perform seat allocations that are actually based on votes cast.
The elected government can relax knowing it is the actual choice of the voters. Under the effective voting that is PR, a government's victory is not some accident of district gerrymandering, wasted votes, ignored voters or plurality district wins derived by no more than the slight lead that one minority candidate may have over other minority candidates, with the majority of voters left un-represented.
Under PR a government can soak in the pleasant feeling that their sole possession of majority power, or control of a comfortable working majority of seats in the chamber that their coalition has is due to deep-seated sentiment held by a wide segment of voters, not to a minute shift in votes in swing seats. For such slight shifts can be easily reversed, as the government knows. And such insecurity means that any small slight or criticism evokes angry response based on suspicion and defensiveness. Dis-proportional mis-representation leads to friction between insecure legislators, opposing parties at war with each other, breakdowns in communication, and more.
Dis-proportional elections also lead to inefficient policy lurches when governments are thrown out of power in quick succession, due to only slight shift in votes.
With PR, a government is only replaced when voters choose. But when votes choose to replace them, they are. No more do government hang on through false majorities or wrong-winner elections, or come to power through such un-democratic means.
The whole seamless system of PR ensures that the final result - the identity of the elected members sitting in the legislature making laws that we live under - truly reflect the intention of the voters.
Why do we have to run the risk that our voting system will produce governments that are not of the choosing of the voters?
No more does that have to happen if we switch to PR.
Whether voters are seeing a business-like government elected to create opportunity and project strength or a grassroots government devoted to improved social service and re-distributive taxation, PR allows voters to make the choice.
PR can produce the re-election of the proven familiar government or it can open a new door if voters knock on it. PR would make the road easy, smooth and level whether voters want a retro experience or want to leap forward and choose to experience an energetic government with innovative ideas.
PR lets voters choose the next government while curating an electoral experience that anticipates the needs of each individual voter as much as possible from the time their election-journey begins to when it draws to a close at the end of a successful, satisfying four- or five-year term in office.
And as another election comes up, PR can be relied on to again dependably produce proportional results in the next election cycle as well..
Wherever you want to go, adopt PR - and you and your vote can help determine the way forward.
Get PR today, and it will put you, the voter, in the driving seat!
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