LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Proportional Representation: Elections
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The factor (k+1) may be surprising in the validity condition, but it actually agrees with proportional representation voting schemes developed elsewhere; it is analogous to the Droop quota used by many STV election methods. Suppose the factor were changed to k. In that case, a set of voters would be unable to influence the selection of a candidate unless they were large enough to form a bloc of size n/k. For example, suppose that k=2 and a bare majority favors candidates A and B, while a slightly smaller minority favors C and D. In this case the minority would have no valid preference for C and the winners would be AB. However, the right result is clearly AC. As long as the minority has least 1/3 of the voters, it will be represented by C. If the minority has less than 1/3, then we can view the majority as consisting of two blocs deserving representation, and both larger than the minority. So in that case the right result is AB, which is achieved because a 2/3 majority has a valid 2-preference in this case.
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After the last provincial election, the idea of proportional representation has gained a lot of support in rural areas. For the first time in Saskatchewan history, the rural population is not large enough to elect or defeat a government without the support of urban voters.
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Mathematicians and political scientists have devised all sorts of voting methods through the years, many of which produce Proportional Representation. Each of them have their individual merits, and long discussions have taken place about the relative differences between them (in fact, many of those issues are discussed on the Election Methods Mailing List).
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Item 1 [O]f the Bill amends this section to stipulate proportional representation as the method to be used in all elections for the Senate. It ... removes Parliament's power to alter this method except by constitutional amendment.
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