STV can ensure representation of women or residents of a particular part of a district - UK Building Societies, City of Edmonton had guaranteed seats
- Tom Monto
- 4 days ago
- 1 min read
In addition to usual safeguards of equal representation for voting blocks large and small, --
by being structured in a certain way, STV may further ensure representation of minorities such as women or residents of a specific geographical location.
In the 1950s, the U.K. Building Societies Institute had a rule that at least three of its governing committee would be composed of women, so in each of its election (where one third of its committee was elected) at least one woman would be elected even if no women achieved quota. (Lakeman and Lambert, Voting in Democracies (1959), p. 120)
The City of Edmonton during its use of STV in the 1920s abided by the requirement that at least three councillors would be elected from the southside (Old Strathcona) by adopting a similar rule. (Hoag and Hallett, Proportional Representation (1926), p. 225)
No separate districting, no separate polling was required to achieve this ensured representation.
The same could be done to calm fears of loss of local representation under MMDs. --
say at least one seat could be guaranteed for each half of the district,
or if one county dominates the district, at least one seat could be guaranteed for the part of the district outside that county.
An ethnic group or a race (say a particular Indian reserve) could have guaranteed representation, if that was desired.
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