HARE SYSTEM OF VOTING.

Mataura Ensign, 20 March 1909, Page 3

HARE SYSTEM OF VOTING.

A. . ♦ ~ Tho Hon. I'. McCraehan. a member of the Legislative Council ol ' asinaiua. and formerly a ineinher of H»> House, had "an inUTesting eonyersatlon with a 'Dominion- re|x>rter about the Uaro system of voting in loive tlieie . Ho reniarkcrl that Tasmania was about to mako its lliir.l trial «t the Hare system of proportional representation. the Act, under which the -ystem was lixst established reniained in lor"; l«r a. period covriiiK tw<> pne'al eliK-iions, and was then re|H'nled. jmt in .«>,, after a reyisiou to the old method an imi>r»ved Hare .system was embodied in legislation, and this would be put into practieo at the general election now rK'nding- .... , , Mr JlcCrackan oxplamed that for the election of the. Lower House Tasmania was now divided into l.w electoraus, and each of thece we.,: I leiurn six meinhers. Tho 'Jitt'erent panics would liring out their preiiy inch as they would under tie- , i.-.-iora! system. The voter* would be leipliied to mark the candidates' names on the ballot nailers with tho fip,ui'- 1. -. •">. ■ ";•• in the order of their prel, lem-e. <bi the tirst count of the votes every candidate who had obtained a number of "first choice" votes, called tho "quota," would ho declared elected. Votes in excess of the quota were called the •'surplus.'' A nnmlier of votes equal to the. surplus of the highest candidate nould then ho divided amone the others in tlie proportion indicated by the second preference (figure 2) marked mi all the ballot, papers assigned to the 'highest candidate on the first count. This process would be repeated accordiii" to lixe,l rules until six of the candidates were credited with a quota. Mr McCiacknn, who had himself been elected to die liower Hoiiso under the old Hare system, was satisfied that ill one form or the other it was the. best electoral system vet devised. It, made the ■ House, in his opinion, a truer reflex of the state of parties in the country than niiv other mode of election.