User:DPR Voting

Direct Party and Representative Voting

A form of Proportional Representation for party based parliamentary democracies which use single member constituencies, designed to replace the 'First past the post' (FPTP) voting system.

Direct Party and Representative Voting (DPR Voting) has similarities to FPTP and to Mixed Member Proportional Representation.

In DPR Voting, the voter has two votes.

One vote (The ‘Party’ vote) to choose the party of Government.

The second vote (The ‘Representative’ or ‘constituency’ vote) elects the MP.

In DPR Voting the voter is asked to cast a vote for the party (the 'Party' vote) to determine the potential voting power of each party in the parliament. In order for that voting power to be exercised, the party also needs to get party sponsored MPs elected. The 'Representative' or constituency vote elects MPs, each of whom is then entrusted with an equal share of the voting power of the sponsoring party to exercise.

When voting is completed, the 'Representative' votes are counted and the MP is elected in the same way as the existing plurality system. The ‘Party’ vote is totalled up firstly by constituency, and then across the country to give a simple percentage for each party. This is used to determine the voting power each party has in the House of Commons. Each party's total voting power in the parliament is proportional to its nationwide share of the 'Party' vote, rather than the number of their MPs. Each MP is entrusted with an equal share of their party’s overall voting power, so they have, in most cases, a vote value either more or less than one, the value being expressed as a decimal.

The system treats party sponsored MPs differently to independent MPs, distinguishes between votes on party political issues and apolitical issues, and requires changes to the way parliamentary divisions are conducted

The result of the election is a form of proportional representation.

Voting and counting is simple and quick. There is no preferential voting.

All MPs are elected as single member constituency MPs. There are no party list MPs.

No changes to constituency boundaries are needed. Every vote is significant in that it makes a difference to the election result.