There is a lot of talk out there about systems that mix
first-past-the-post constituencies and proportional representation.
Constituency-based voting is valuable but first-past-the-post is
inherently undemocratic. It doesn't matter whether only half of the
members are selected that way. It is still undemocratic. It
wouldn't matter if even only a single member were selected that
way. It would still be undemocratic. Independent of the idea of
proportional representation, first-past-the-post must be eliminated
in favour of something like instant runoff [AV]. In technical
terms, constituency elections are inherently winner-takes-all
votes. Instant Runoff is an inherently more democratic way to run a
winner-takes-all election.
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