Vox Populi, Vox Dei
Vox Populi, Vox Dei, the Romans said the voice of the people is
the voice of God and that is the principle of true
democracy. We are disaffected with an election process
that delivers government to parties that garner a minority of the
popular vote. I propose that we adopt an electoral
process which only elects candidates who receive a majority of the
vote for their riding.
I believe the preferential ballot is the easiest and most
convenient way of doing this [the alternative vote, AV].
On each ballot the candidates are ranked by the elector. The
candidate who receives 50% plus one first place votes in a riding
is elected. If no candidate receives a plurality then second choice
votes are tallied. The process continues until someone receives a
clear majority. In practice, whether two or twenty candidates are
running, there will come a point where the preferences give a clear
mandate.
The system is amenable to manual counting as is now done; or
electronic sorting. It is faster than the preferential system where
run-offs are held among the highest ranking of the preferences. It
removes the taint of party politics in proportional representation.
Above all, the candidate elected can be said to be the choice
of the majority above the other candidates.
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