Malta tinkers with STV

This would have been a more detailed discussion, but the better Times of Malta piece is inaccessible due to site maintenance.

In any event, Malta has used the single transferable vote in 5-seat districts for elections to its House of Representatives since the 1920s. Apparently since 1987, it has tinkered with the specifics of seat allocation. Recent developments:

The Maltese Parliament on Wednesday night approved changes in the Maltese Constitution that cater for significant changes in general elections. Gozo will remain a single unified electoral district while strict proportionality between the number of first preferences and the number of seats obtained will be guaranteed when two parties are elected.

STV seeks to guarantee proportionality of seat shares to support for factions through surplus transfers and eliminations, that is, by minimizing wasted votes. Each seat in the district corresponds to a quota of votes. Votes in excess of the quota are transferred to voters’ next-preferred candidates. There are different ways of determining the quota, two being the Hare and Droop methods.

Without knowledge of context or, perhaps, some deeper understanding of micro-dynamics, it’s hard to tell what change would effect “strict proportionality.” Thoughts?

I hope the other site comes back online soon.