tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30598467.post480127148980483442..comments2023-08-16T12:07:22.995+00:00Comments on The Daily (Maybe): Why Caroline Russell is one of my top picks for the AssemblyJim Jeppshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17410387006098326671noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30598467.post-54194123392564865532011-02-24T21:48:07.964+00:002011-02-24T21:48:07.964+00:00Since posting my comment I've had a conversati...Since posting my comment I've had a conversation with my flatmate who was a student union sabbatical, and so actually understands STV (few others do I would have thought). He confirmed that it didn't work quite like I thought, that it still wasn't ideal, and that its ridiculously complicated. Still, at least we have computers - they used to do the calculations by physically redistributing voting papers and such...James Onoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30598467.post-87385793831202243282011-02-24T20:29:31.503+00:002011-02-24T20:29:31.503+00:00I completely understand your frustration James, it...I completely understand your frustration James, it's the wrong tool for the job.<br /><br />However do remember that votes transfer from both eliminated candidates and successful ones.<br /><br />If the quota is, say 100, and you vote for someone who gets 120 votes - 20 of those votes will be transfered to second preferences.<br /><br />In practice that means you've used 5/6ths of your vote to elect [1] and then 1/6th goes to your second, or third, or whatever cnadidate.<br /><br />It's actually very difficult to assess how to use your vote most effectively because you need to predict what's happening with the other voters - and you might be wrong!<br /><br />If you think cnadidates are certain to get first and second place many's the voter who has voted for the person they wsnt third on the list as [1] to make sure they get the full benefit of their single transferable vote.<br /><br />The debate on this could be endless... that's how complex voting in practice is.Jim Jeppshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17410387006098326671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30598467.post-10860149318917315362011-02-24T19:32:59.565+00:002011-02-24T19:32:59.565+00:00What I don't quite understand Jim, having now ...What I don't quite understand Jim, having now received my ballot paper, is how STV works for an election with 11 places that need to be ranked in order of preference. Its simple for the mayoral candidate - the lowest placed candidate is eliminated and their votes redistributed on the basis of second preferences. If it works the same way for the list, who you vote for 2nd, 3rd etc is unlikely to count, as only four people will be eliminated out of 15. In fact, if this were the case, it would only be worth your marking your top 5 candidates. If it works in some other way, I can't think what that would be, but it obviously affects how you vote. The fact that this isn't explained properly seems like a bit of a shortcoming.James Onoreply@blogger.com