A Single Transferable Vote system enlarges the riding, so that there are between four and seven parliamentary seats being contested in that riding. As an example, in a riding where there are six parliamentary seats to represent a large riding, each voter will be entitled to cast six votes, and will do so in order of preference for the candidates contesting those seats. Each of the parties may field six candidates in this riding, and there may be two or more independent candidates. In this particular system the ridings are very large and some may find it awkward to form a sense of personal connection with their representative in parliament. On the other hand, this system tends to make the members of Parliament more responsive to the electorate, rather than to the party leader. This latter occurs because there may be several candidates from the same party contesting those seats which then makes the Prime Minister or Premier more accountable to the elected members of his or her party.
What values does this provision support?
What problems, if any, does this proposition address in our current electoral system?
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