SRV-PR Elevator pitch upgrade

[SaraWolf]

Proportional Representation

Proportional Score Runoff, (SRV-PR) is a voting method that can elect multiple candidates in elections where more than one seat is available.

SRV-PR, like normal Score Runoff, uses a score ballot, where the voter can assign a score to each candidate, we use 0-9 in this example:

• Each voter fills out their ballot as usual, giving the highest score to their favorite and so on. The scores are totaled and the two candidates with the highest scores advance to a runoff. Whichever you ranked higher gets your full vote in the runoff. Just like in single winner Score Runoff Voting. The first winner has been elected!

• To find the next winner, the remaining candidates scores are counted again with one change. If your favorite won the last round, your remaining scores are all divided in half. (If my second favorite had an 8 then it would be counted as a 4 in the second round.) The two candidates with the highest scores advance to a runoff. Whichever you ranked higher gets your full vote in the runoff.

• To find the third winner, the remaining candidates scores are counted again. Every time your favorite wins a round your remaining scores are all divided in half again. (If my third favorite also had an 8 it would be now be counted as a 2.) The two candidates with the highest scores advance to a runoff. Whichever you ranked higher gets your full vote in the runoff.

• This process continues until enough candidate are elected to fill all the available seats.

Weakening the ballots of voters who have already won allows minority voters to elect a winner as well if they have sizeable proportion of the voting block. Minority groups will be better represented by the group of elected politicians. The runoff ensures that those minority candidates sill have wide support and works to prevent divisive extremist candidates from getting elected. This creates a legislative body that better represents all the voters as opposed to group that only represents the majority.

Advantages over other forms of Proportional Representation:

• The nature of the scored ballot and the election process encourages candidates to reach out to all voters, not just their core and it also keeps them accountable to all voters if the want to seek re-election.
• SRV-PR is non-partisan. You don't just vote the party line, you actually choose which individual candidates you like and evaluate them based on whatever criteria is most important to you.
• Conventional Proportional Representation has been linked to helping extremest factions come to power in the past, from the NAZI's in Germany to the Facists in Italy. The runoff stage helps eliminate small but passionate minorities that antagonize the rest of the voters while still giving other minorities a voice.
• SRV-PR is less likely to elect polarized groups of candidates that can't agree on anything and can't get anything done. This is because of the incentive given by scored ballots to maintain approval from as wide a group of voters as possible.

Disadvantages of SRV-PR:

• Votes must be sent to a central location before they can be counted. This is true of all existing Proportional Representation systems.
• Hasn't been tested in a real world election.
• Elected officials aren't tied to specific districts. This can decrease accountability to local areas. This is true of all existing Proportional Representation systems.
• SRV-PR is fairly complicated, though less so than other forms of PR with the exception of Re-weighted Range Voting.

Credits: Mark Frohnmayer, Seth Woolley, and Sara Wolf's late night musings -- based almost entirely on re-weighted range voting.