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Direct Party and Representative Voting
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Direct Party and Representative Voting (DPR Voting) or Proportional Parliamentary Voting (PPV) is a proposed form of representative democracy, and a form of Proportional Representation, where the share of votes that a party can use on motions in parliament is always directly proportional to the share of “party votes” they received as a mandate from citizens in a general election. This is regardless of how many seats that party has acquired as district representatives. This direct proportionality is achieved in the following way: In a general election, citizen voters cast two votes: The first vote is traditional: It is for citizens to select their district representative (eg. Member of Parliament or “MP”). (Each vote is a single choice - the voter marks their choice with a single X. One “district representative” is elected in each single district.) The second vote is new under DPR voting: It is for citizens to select the political party of their choice. It's called a “party vote”. The share of the “party votes” that each party wins in an election is then used to determine how many “Parliamentary votes” each party can use on motions in Parliament. This amount of “Parliamentary votes” allotted to a party is then mathematically distributed exactly equally amongst that party's MPs - the winners of district elections. This “mathematical distributing” determines the exact weight that each individual MP’s vote will get when voting on motions in Parliament. (This “shared weight” calculation could, for example, result in the weight of an individual MP’s vote being a fraction such as 0.9, or 1.1, etc -- depending on the total share of the party votes that each party wins in an election.) Attention gained in Canada This type of Proportional Representation representative democracy (with its general election voting system) gained attention in Canada: It was discussed in 2013 and 2014 as one option in a public consultative lecture and on a printed survey at public meetings across Canada by Member of Parliament Craig Scott, Official Opposition Critic for Democratic and Parliamentary Reform. Beginning in 2013, Scott carried out these public consultation meetings as part of the “NDP Cross-Canada consultation on bringing proportional representation to Canada’s electoral system.” This public consultation began after Scott’s resolution on Electoral Reform was passed in the federal NDP Policy convention in April 2013. This resolution stated that, “ should consult widely in communities across Canada before the next federal election.” Comparison to Mixed Member Proportional system The passed resolution at the NDP policy convention also stated that, “the federal New Democratic Party reaffirm its desire to reform Canada’s electoral system by way of a system that combines proportional representation and direct election of Members of Parliament from constituencies, that is to say, through a version of that is adapted to Canada..” Even though Direct Party and Representative Voting is not exactly the traditional form of mixed member proportional (MMP) representation, nevertheless it does fulfill the resolution’s requirement of “a system that combines proportional representation and direct election of Members of Parliament from constituencies.” History Direct Party and Representative Voting was first proposed by Stephen Johnson of the United Kingdom. He posted information about this system online in February 2010 in an independent website intended to inform visitors about an alternative to the system for Westminster Parliamentary elections. Comparison to Direct Representation In DPR voting, each party's votes in the parliament are directly proportional to the "party votes" they win in the General Election. In the particular aspect of "achieving direct proportionality with a weighting calculation," this system is similar to “direct representation.” However DPR voting is not the same as direct representation in all aspects. Here is the crucial difference: "Direct representation" is weighted in proportion to the number of citizens who have chosen that "candidate" to represent them. DPR voting, on the other hand, is weighted in proportion to the number of citizens who have chosen that "party" (not "individual") to represent them.
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