So we get people elected with one or two % of the vote, but other candidates send them preferences in an attempt to shut down the person who gets the most votes.
Q. So who's system is most ******.
That is a nice argument, as long as you don't look at the complexity of proportional representation with multi-member electorates.
If a candidate gets 1% of the vote (assuming a half Senate election) but receives preferences from 13.5% of voters who's candidate is knocked out should they get the seat? Well, who else should be elected then? The third candidate on some major party ticket which received 28.8% of the vote (ie: 2 quotas with only 0.2% vote left after electing the first 2 candidates on the ticket)?
The thing is we have preferences in the Senate voting and if your candidate gets knocked out your vote goes through with full value to your next preference.
It is easy to say that there is an issue when a candidate who gets 1% of the first preference votes is elected, but it becomes much harder when you actually consider who should get the seat instead.
I still hate the way preferences are manipulated by very minor parties, especially when they are distributed amongst candidates with opposing politics. But it just isn't as simple as looking at first preferences.
By the way, the US system is clearly the most s***. Winner takes all in each state's election to the electoral college, that just disenfranchises so many voters. By the way, it doesn't have to be that way, each state can decide how electoral college members are elected or even selected. Their system is insane. In some states there are different ballot papers for each county, in others the ballots are the same across the whole state. If you are not a major party candidate you may not even appear on the ballot in some states. It is all determined by state legislatures or state governments. It is truly f***ed up.
I also don't get why countries without compulsory attendance at the polling booth have elections on weekdays: Tuesday in the US, Thursday in the UK - f***en stupid.
DS