If the Citizens' Assembly chooses STV as the recommended system,
the Citizens' Assembly should not expect STV to clean up the party
endorsement (nomination of candidates by political parties)
procedures by itself.
In Ireland and Malta the fairness of party endorsements is a major
issue.
The under-representation of women in the Irish and Maltese
assemblies is largely caused by the reluctance of the party
leaderships to select women candidates.
Clearly, these endorsement procedures must be regulated to provide
for fairness.
However, allowing anyone to run for office under a party banner
without some sort of official party endorsement would greatly add
to confusion, unfairness, and manipulation.
Parties would issue "How to Vote Cards" in such a scenario. And
with so many candidates running for each party, voters would
blindly follow the "How to Vote Cards."
Clearly, regulated local primaries are the fairest procedure.
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