As I pointed out in my letter of February 28, our electoral system is rendered perverse by the intentionally arithmetically incorrect system of working out the quota, which is not based on the number of candidates to be returned in each district but on that number plus one.
In the last election, this perversity is being corrected by assigning four extra seats to the Nationalist Party, which would not have been necessary if the quota had been properly (arithmetically) determined in the first place. Probably, the two parties are happy because they have four extra members to adjust the position but there are four members who should not have been elected and these are an extra burden on the Exchequer.
Analysing the results, district by district, we can see that while the 1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th 11th and 12th districts have been assigned seats in arithmetical proportion to the number of valid first count votes cast for the two parties, the results of the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 8th district are perverse and in the case of the 13th district the perversity is marginal.
In the 3rd district, the Labour Party got 3.43 seats and the Nationalist Party won I.50 seats, which should have been translated into three and two and not four and one.
The position is the same in the 4th district where the proportions of 3.34 and 1.60 should also have been translated into three and two instead of four and one.
In the 5th district, the proportions of 3.35 and 1.59 should also have given three and two and not four and one.
In the 8th district, the proportion of 2.40 (PL) and 2.48 (PN) should have given two PL and three PN and not the reverse.
In the 13th district, the PN got the odd vote over 2.50 seats and the PL got 2.46 seats but the 0.04 of Alternattiva Demokratika and the transfers could have upset the proportionality no matter the quota.
As the electoral system is due to be overhauled, I suggest the quota be amended to give arithmetical proportionality and reduce the necessity of adjustments. If the number of districts is reduced, or abolished, as has been suggested by Lino Spiteri, the distortions would be reduced or eliminated and would give a better chance to the smaller parties to be represented. In that case, a bonus of extra seats to the majority party should be considered at the same time.
Another point to be considered is the casual elections. The system as adopted is to consider only the votes in the sealed packet of the candidate vacating the seat. This may be convenient but it depends on chance, on the method in which the preferences had been arbitrarily transferred in the first process and on the alphabetical order of the candidates. Candidates who had a substantial number of votes and were not eliminated or did not have their votes transferred to the elected candidate vacating the seat are at a big disadvantage. The electors’ preferences should be better respected by a less summary process.