PAL representation
LAP (Locally-Accountable Proportional) representation is a system for electing a legislature, such that ballot secrecy is preserved but each voter can know who "their" representative is. It is designed to be a gentle change from a single-member-district system, and districts can remain unchanged. The basic idea is:
- Voters may vote on the candidates in their or nearby districts, or write in candidates from farther off.
- Each vote is transformed into the pre-submitted public ranked ballot of the candidate it chooses. These public ballots must not have non-adjacent members of the same party.
- A legislature is elected by STV.
- Each district "drafts" one member of each elected party from the elected slate.
- Your representative is the member of the party you voted for who is representing your district.
Procedure
- Voters may vote on the candidates in their or nearby districts, or write in candidates from farther off.
First, to simplify the ballots, the population is separated into a "district" for each seat, and "districts" are grouped into sets of 2 or 3 "co-districts". The ballot for each district lists the candidates from that district in a larger font, and the candidates from its co-districts in a smaller font. Write-ins may be used to vote for candidates from other districts not listed on the ballot, so the districts only matter for ballot simplicity (Voters do not want to have a ballot with many dozens of candidates on it, but write-ins allow full freedom for those voters who want it). Larger parties will usually run one candidate per district; smaller parties may just run one candidate per co-district set.
- Each vote is transformed into the pre-submitted public ranked ballot of the candidate it chooses. These public ballots must not have non-adjacent members of the same party.
- A legislature is elected by STV.
- Each district "drafts" one member of each elected party from the elected slate.
- The draft proceeds as follows:
- test
- Your representative is the member of the party you voted for who is representing your district.