[ChristmasNeeve]

Originally Posted by patsylimerick

No, we have PR in Ireland, proportional representation. It's different in a number of ways, but mainly in that you don't need to get 50% of the vote to get elected. You have to reach the quota which works out at around 10,000, 11,000 votes in our constituency. The formula is that in a three-seater, it's a quarter of the total valid poll, plus one, in a four-seater a fifth of the valid poll plus one, and so forth.
If no-one reaches the quota on the first count the lowest one, two, three or even four five candidates are eliminated, if they have a very small vote each and don't amount to a quota between them.
The other significant difference is that the transfers aren't just taken from the bottom up, as the OP describes. In PR, every time someone is elected the distribution of their surplus is the next count. For instance, if you got 12,000 votes and the quota was 11,500, the next count would be the distribution of the No.2s of that elected person. ALL of the number twos but the allocation of votes is 'proportional', so if you got 12% of all my no.2s, you'll get 12% o the 500 vote surplus, as described above.
It's incredibly fair and I was at the count in one of the centres here 'til two in the morning see the final outcome last weekend. I've attended the counts for years. They are utterly fascinating.
If you study the voting, your vote, under the PR system, can be significant in electing all four or five of the TD's elected in your constituency. It's a magnificent system - the epitome of democracy - and widely recognised as such. It's one of the few things we can be proud of at the minute

ahhh, ok. Thanks for that Patsy