LYCOS RETRIEVER
Proportional Representation
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Proportional Representation is an electoral device that seeks to make a representative body a faithful image of its electorate. Ideally, the system gives legislative voting strength proportionate to the electoral strength of every shade of societal opinion. Technically, proportional representation is achieved by devising a quota that determines the minimum number of votes required for election. The number of seats a party wins is the number of votes it receives divided by the quota. The simplest quota is the Hare quota, which is found by dividing the total number of votes cast by the number of seats to be filled. Such elections are usually at large or employ multimember districts.
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Proportional Representation is a very important, significant, and historic issue which can alter the course of government. For Ontario, voters will be voting in the first referendum since 1924 (a referendum is a rare and valuable chance for people, rather than the politicians, to vote on a vital question). For everyone around the world, this question of "proportional representation" is important to learn about.
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Proportional Representation is likely to increase voter turnout. Turnout for the 1996 presidential election was 49 percent. Voter turnout is generally estimated to be 10-12 percent higher in nations with PR than in similar nations using winner-take-all elections. Thirty of the of the 36 countries rated "free" by the human rights organization Freedom House use proportional representation to elect their most powerful legislature.
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Proportional Representation makes sense. Why haven't you heard about it? It's a system that causes those who have lots of power right now, to not have as much power in the future. No campaign issue, no matter what the issue, is as important as talking about changing the basic system itself! So why doesn't the media cover that (at least as much as it covers campaign issues)?
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