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In Europe, many countries elect representatives to congress or parliament using a type of voting called the Party List Method.

Like the single transferable vote method, the party list method is considered a type of proportional representation, because it gives groups of voters power in proportion to their numbers. However, the party list method leads directly to apportionment problems, since a parliament doesn't have fractional seats. One way to minimize such problems is to allow variations in the total number of seats and to use simple rounding.

1 . Why is the party list system a method of proportional representation?

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2 . Normally the number of seats with simple rounding will vary by only one or two seats. But in theory, a nominal 100-seat parliament could actually end up with as many as 132 seats. How?

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3 . A type of representation called semi-proportional can be achieved through the so-called limited vote method, also explained at the Seattle site.

Look back at the scenario in Get Out the Vote!, and suppose each voter gets to vote for only one candidate. How does the limited vote method improve proportional representation?

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4 . What are some advantages of the limited vote method compared to STV?

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5 . Again, consider a race among candidate A, B, C, and D for two open seats on a city council, with voters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Suppose the voters' preferences among the candidates are now these: Voter

Candidate 1 2 3 4 5

A 1st 1st 1st 1st 4th

B 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 3rd

C 3rd 3rd 3rd 3rd 2nd

D 4th 4th 4th 4th 1st

Who would win using a limited-vote, one-vote-per-voter method?

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6 . Who would win using STV? You may want to revisit the Cambridge Website to find out.

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7 . Which outcome in Questions 5 and 6 strikes you as more fair?

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