Proportional Representation

It was disappointing to read Lindsay Thachuk’s letter ‘Beware proportional voting’.
 
The fact of the matter is - they do not use Proportional Representation to elect their Members of Parliament in Australia.
 
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_system_of_Australia
 
The present-day federal parliament has a number of distinctive features including compulsory voting, with majority-preferential instant-runoff voting in single-member seats to elect the lower house, the House of Representatives.
 
They do use what they refer to as a single transferable vote proportional representation system to elect the upper house, the Senate.
 
That ballot is similar to the STV ballot that was proposed for BC in two previous referendums.
 
The problem with this ballot is simply that it is nothing more than another preferential, ranked, run-off ballot, that produces results that can be as distorted as our current first-past-the-post, winner-take-all ballot.
 
A Proportional Ballot distinguishes itself by allowing voters to make two choices on the ballot. A vote for their party of choice, as well as a separate mark to vote for the candidate they want to represent them.
 
On the STV ballot voters make only one choice, party – or candidate.
 
New Zealand uses Proportional Representation, as do many other countries, and it is nothing even remotely like the disaster they have created in Australia.

Andy Thomsen