A Brief Introduction

DPR Voting is a voting system to replace ‘First Past the Post’ for UK parliamentary elections

The principle of PR and a change to a fairer voting system has widespread support.
But what will change mean? Some voting systems are complex.
Complexity can undermine any demand for change.
 
DPR Voting elections are simple for the voter... and for the administrators...
It requires the least change to the familiar 'First Past the Post' system.

For the electorate:

One MP in each constituency - It's your local area, choosing the best MP matters 

Simple and quick voting and counting - Familiar voting and counting that everyone understands 

Party Proportional voting - For elections that are fair and seen to be fair 

Every vote in every constituency counts - To show that voting makes a difference 

Introduction
Direct Party and Representative Voting (DPR Voting) is an electoral system specifically intended to introduce a form of proportional representation to elections for the House of Commons in the UK while requiring the least change to the ‘First Past the Post' (FPTP) system. It is a form of Proportional Representation for the UK based on the existing single member constituencies.

Voting
The voter has two ballot papers and can use both - one vote for the Candidate you want as your local MP (on your first ballot paper) and one vote for the Party you really support (on the other ballot paper). Each vote is a single choice - the voter marks their choice on each ballot paper with a single X.
The vote for the person determines who will represent the electorate as MP for the local constituency (and thus become a member of their party's parliamentary party.) It does not determine how many votes the parliamentary party will have in the parliament.

The vote for the party determines how many votes the parliamentary party will have in the parliament. It plays no part in the election of any individual candidate. The votes for the party have significance when added up nationwide. For this reason there is no need for tactical voting.

A party that wins in no constituencies, ie has no MPs elected, will have no parliamentary party. But if the party wins sufficient party votes to exceed a predetermined threshold, it will be represented in the Parliament by its designated party leader with one vote.

Simplicity, equality, choice
The voting (and counting) in DPR Voting is as simple as FPTP. It's different because each voter has one vote for the party to form the Government, as well as one vote for the candidate to be the local MP. This form of voting is more straightforward for those who know which party they support, and gives more options for those for whom the relative merits of the candidates are important.

The 'Party' votes are aggregated nationwide, and this determines how many votes each party will have in the parliament and therefore which party, or parties, can form the Government. Because the votes are totalled nationwide, each vote counts equally. Where each vote is cast makes no difference to the result.

The Representative vote elects an individual in each constituency. The candidate who gets the most Representative votes is elected as the constituency MP. This vote is not linked to the vote for the party, so the voters can choose the best candidate to be the local MP regardless of their party allegiance.

For votes in parliament, where the voting was along party lines, the total votes for each party would simply be factored to take account of their success in the General Election 'Party' vote. Electronic voting, while not essential, would save time and improve parliamentary administration efficiency.

The underlying reasoning for Direct Party and Representative Voting

The DPR Voting system reflects our parliamentary democracy which is based on political parties and constituency representatives. The dual nature of an MP's responsibilities – as both 1) a member of the parliamentary party and 2) as a representative of the constituency electorate – is built into DPR Voting.

All the advantages and principal outcomes of Direct Party and Representative Voting follow from the underlying democratic logic of the system.

Principal outcomes: DPR Voting has a unique combination of advantages:

• Proportional representation is achieved with minimal change to the voting system.

• The process of electing a single MP in existing single member constituencies is retained.

• Simplicity of voting and counting is comparable with FPTP.

• The democratic accountability of the MP to their constituency electorate is enhanced.

• Each ('party') vote in every constituency makes a difference to the result of the election.

• The votes each party has in parliament are proportional to the votes won in the election.

• This determines which party, or parties, can form the government

• The election is not decided by voting in 'marginal' constituencies.

• The system does not encourage numerous small parties.

• The system is resistant to gerrymandering

   - Frequent revision to constituency boundaries is not necessary.

• Separating the vote for the MP from the vote for the party means there are no safe party seats.

   - It encourages independent and independent minded candidates

   - The MP may become more responsive to his/her constituents.

DPR Voting is a PR voting system which does not need Party List MPs. (Unlike AMS / MMP)

The voting and counting procedures are simple, quick and transparent (Unlike STV)

DPR does not require constituency boundaries to be redrawn (Unlike STV and AMS/MMP).

The votes for the party, and the local MP are not combined in one vote  (Unlike FPTP).

The system does not use preferential voting or multimember constituencies (Unlike STV).

There is no ‘Overhang' issue with DPR Voting (Unlike MMP)

The cost of introducing the new system would be low. 

DPR Voting on YouTube

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Arend Lijphart, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of California, writes:
"Thank you for bringing the DPR Voting system to my attention.  I had not heard of it before.

I agree with you that it represents a big improvement compared with the current FPTP system in the UK, because it is basically a PR instead of a majoritarian system.  My own preference is for straightforward list PR, but the practical advantage of DPR Voting may be that it may be more acceptable to the British public. Good luck with your proposal! Arend"

(November 2011)

DPR Voting - The electoral system to replace First Past the Post
The introduction of DPR Voting would involve only a small change to the current UK electoral system.
It would preserve the relationship between MPs and their constituents using existing constituencies.

DPR Voting would achieve greater equality for the voter, greater voter choice, and a simple form of proportional representation at minimum cost and with minimum disruption.
It could reasonably be presented to the electorate as a fairer electoral system for Westminster.

For a more detailed description of DPR Voting see here (pdf document) 

If you would like to comment about DPR Voting, please email the editor. DPR Voting - simple, practical electoral reform