01 May 2009

Tales from the Trail 2

A member of the local volunteer team mentioned this simple analogy which encapsulates how the votes would be distributed in a BC-STV system.

Imagine a line of wine glasses, each slightly lower than and touching the side of the previous glass. Then begin pouring champagne from a single bottle into the topmost glass. As the champagne runs over the rim of the 1st glass, it begins to spill over into the 2nd glass. As it spills over the 2nd glass, it begins to fill up the 3rd one. And so on down the line. At some point, all the champagne in the bottle will be gone, leaving the bottom-most glass(es) without enough champagne to fill them to the rim.

Think of the champagne in the bottle as the total number of votes cast, the rim of the glass as the district quota, the spillage of champagne from one glass to another as votes being transferred, and the incomplete glasses as candidates who are eliminated from the bottom up.

Let's hope British Columbians can raise a glass of champagne the night of May 12th!

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