re: #251 Grunthos the Flatulent

NZ uses a Mixed Member Proprtional system, very similar to Germany’s I believe. Is that what you’re describing? Voters have two choices: a local candidate for the electorate they reside in, and a vote for a party. Between them, they ensure the makeup of the House reflects the makeup of the popular vote. Like your local representative but don’t like her party? Vote for her, but for the other party of your choice (or don’t cast a party vote at all.)

Australia uses a couple of variants of the Single Transferable Vote system. STV makes my brain bleed, but basically requires you to rank your choices of candidates. That part I understand; the voodoo is in determining the winner. Someone below (fern01 I think) said the Reprehensible Senator was only the first choice of 19 voters.

I always stand to be corrected, however.

Honestly I am just going off of a description of the process that got this guy elected in a piece from a fairly respectable publication I read last night. He’s Australian so it wouldn’t be the NZ system, I’d say.

It sure as hell didn’t sound like any STV system I’m familiar with (then again those are pretty diverse even among themselves and as you said, fairly complex). Basically the first on the list got just about enough preferential votes for two seats (250K or so?), the second guy got a couple thousand but turned out to be ineligible and the third on the list simply got in on the coattails of that first listed candidate.

The party I usually vote for here in the Netherlands has had 10+ seats with none of the candidates other than no.1 getting enough “”“”individual”“”” votes for a seat. First on the list got enough for ten or so. That gets your first ten or more listed candidates in and voters completely expect this. To argue those others are only elected because of a freak error in the system would be completely asinine. Outside of a district system (like the US and UK systems) that’s basically the norm AFAIK.

I’d have to dig a lot deeper to be really sure (and sorry, I’m kinda too busy) but it really feels as if it’s only remotely like a freak system malfunction to the, shall we say, distinct minority worldwide who are reflexively accustomed to district systems. (Don’t get me wrong, IMO there’s something to be said for that approach - but being so accustomed to it does risk warping perspective a little when discussing other systems…)