An idea for proportional representation

So we have this issue about riding sizes and how we make voter representative power proportional. The proposed solution in BC-STV was to amalgamate ridings and modify the number of representatives accordingly. On one hand, this balances the representatives with the population. On the other, smaller communities are unlikely to have anyone representing their issues. We can’t just split larger ridings up again and again, so what can we do?

One idea I’ve been batting around to keep the ridings the same size, but scale each single representatives’ voting power based on the their riding’s population at the time of the election. Sounds a little complicated at first, but let’s consider an example to clarify.

We have two adjacent ridings, one with 100 constituents and one with 50. Those in the smaller teal riding don’t want to be amalgamated for fear of losing their voice to two yellow-based representatives. Those in the yellow riding feel their voices are heard at half-volume as they have half as many representatives per person. Redrawing the line between yellow and teal doesn’t represent the reality of the geographic locales. So what do we do?

Instead of each representative having one vote in their legislature or what have you, the yellow representative would have 100 and the teal would have 50. This way the local issues of the teal riding are still voiced and the yellow constituents are represented proportionally.

I don’t know if there’s a name for this kind of system, but it could work fairly well at both the provincial and federal levels. Combined with a Condorcet method per riding, we could have a form of proportional representation that addresses the concerns with BC-STV.

Known issues

• If 51% of voters in each riding vote for party A and 49% vote for party B, we have a bit of an issue as the representatives are pretty far off from the popular vote. Voting reform helps mitigate this, but it’s still a concern.
• If a representative won their riding with 51% of the vote, they have the same voting power as a representative that won with 100% (assuming equal populations). I’m not fully convinced that this is bad just yet, but it’s worth looking at.
• The system doesn’t and can’t address how to get it in place over the current voting system. If the party in power stands to lose the most seats and also gets to set the bar for popular support, we’re somewhat boned.

Update

Turns out this notion is fairly similar to the population-weighted representation as put forth by James Madison in the Virginia Plan of 1787. It only differs in that Madison’s plan had two representatives for the yellow riding with one vote each, whereas mine has one representative with a voting power of 100.