realnrh t1_iwr1byw wrote on November 17, 2022 at 6:31 PM

Reply to comment by Encyclofreak in Another good article on NH Gerrymandering - I think all states should have independent commissions, not sure why some (like the Guv) are so opposed to it. by AMC4x4

The NH Constitution requires that any town large enough to qualify for a representative of its own has to get one - if the town has at least 1/400th of the state population, it has to get a rep. That makes the algorithmic solutions harder.

I would favor 'open period for anyone to submit maps, and the constitutionally-compliant map with the shortest total length of district boundaries is automatically adopted.' Make it open to absolutely everyone and have a simple nonpartisan mathematical formula that specifies which map wins.

Alternatively, do away with districts and just use proportional representation so whichever party gets the most votes gets the most seats.

Encyclofreak t1_iwr1ro3 wrote on November 17, 2022 at 6:34 PM

When it comes to proportional representation, do you still have a representative that is local to you? I am not sure how that whole process works.

realnrh t1_iwrqst4 wrote on November 17, 2022 at 9:19 PM

Depends on the implementation. You would generally not have a geographically-designated representative, but you would have representatives from your party of choice who would represent your interests, and if your party is large enough to be statewide, they likely would assign representatives geographically, or something like that. But you could also do proportional representation by county, in which case you'd have multiple representatives from your county but none specifically attached to your town.

Encyclofreak t1_iwrsztv wrote on November 17, 2022 at 9:33 PM

So does the party choose the candidates who would represent a county or are voters able to have input?

affinepplan t1_iwsalyf wrote on November 17, 2022 at 11:41 PM

It depends on the exact implementation.

A common one internationally is called "open-list." You vote for a candidate and your vote counts for both that candidate and for their party.

Seats are awarded to parties based on how many votes they get, then parties send candidates to fill those seats based on how many votes each candidate in the party got.

Alternatively could be implemented as STV, which is used in Cambridge, MA and Minneapolis, is also used in a number of cities in AU, NZ, Scotland, and Wales, and just passed ballot initiatives for future use in Portland, ME and Portland, OR. That version has voters rank candidates (without necessarily any regard for parties) and then selects winners proportionally based on the rankings.