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    In the 1940s, for the first time ever, New York City elected the Communist Party to its City Council. Winning 7% of the popular vote and 9% of all seats (1945), this was possible only because the city used STV (PR-RCV). In 1947, STV was repealed by a landslide, and the Communist Party lost all seats
    Data

    In the 1940s, for the first time ever, New York City elected the Communist Party to its City Council. Winning 7% of the popular vote and 9% of all seats (1945), this was possible only because the city used STV (PR-RCV). In 1947, STV was repealed by a landslide, and the Communist Party lost all seats


    See the comments section for the figures relevant to the title information.

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    For those unaware, PR-RCV (or STV) is considered in political science to be the gold-standard electoral system for electing representatives to a city council, which is what New York City voters approved its use for in the early 20th century.

    Here is FairVote's rundown on how proportional-ranked-choice voting (or single transferable vote) works.

    It's effectively just RCV for a constituency which is electing multiple members to a council/seat.

    New York City voters abruptly repealed its use in 1947 after PR-RCV (or STV) apparently helped the Communist Party get elected to multiple seats on the City Council a few years earlier.

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    Acronyms:

    "PR-RCV" stands for "proportional-ranked-choice voting"; "PR" can also stand for "proportional representation".

    "STV" stands for "single transferable vote".

    "PR-RCV" and "STV" mean the same thing. They are synonyms.

    Posted by StarlightDown

    View 4 Comments

    4 Comments

    4. conventionistG on

      Acronyms should really be defined on first use, but at least you put that at the bottom. On the whole I can’t say this is very beautiful data. Website doesn’t display well on mobile (can’t see the whole plot) and from what I see it’s bit confusing. I don’t think duplicating a portion of a series is the best way to label a section of the axis.

      Also, I’m unclear on what differentiates stv from a normal election with a single vote transfered to a candidate.