> Please explain to me what specific advantages a candidate could > give to its electorate when his/her district is formed with > the people born between January 1st and January 5th of any year?
Good point. I'd only remark that since the distribution of births is non-uniform throughout the year, some districts might need to encompass different numbers of days, but that's a minor point. I suppose seats could even be apportioned to birth groups by how many people from each group voted in the latest election, to avoid the need for a census or any pre-determined grouping of dates. Of course, getting the electorate to approve this is another matter altogether. > single-membered virtual districts avoid crowded lists, > can be fully proportional and still is coherent with your remarks. Single-member virtual districts would be a horrible idea! I'm going to guess that the people born between January 1 and January 5 aren't that different from people born between July 1 and July 5. If each group got only a single seat, statistically every group would almost certainly vote for the same party/ideology/whatever. Every legislator would have almost the exact same stances. That hardly provides diverse representation in the legislature. Virtual districts would have to be multi-member, just like any other districts. Of course, I have to confess that I still prefer geographic districts, even if my reasons aren't entirely rational. Alex ---- Election-methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info
