» 5S BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION, 



R.S. TAS. 



Appendix 1. 



The Electoral BUI, 1896. 



(As introduced into the House of Assembly.) 



Bibliography Clause 115. In every case in which more than one candidate 



• is to be elected for any district, the returning officer shall deal 



with the ballot-papers as follows : — 



1. He shall first arrange the ballot-papers by placing in 



a separate parcel all those which have the figure 1 

 set opposite to the name of the same candidate, and 

 in so doing he shall reject all IniUot-papers which 

 have not the official signatures or stamps on the back 

 thereof, or which have anything written or marked 

 thereon by Avhich the voter can be identified, and all 

 ballot-papers on which no number has been placed by 

 the voter to indicate the candidate for whom he wishes 

 to vote, and all ballot-papers on which the same num- 

 ber has been placed against more names than one; 

 but he shall not reject any ballot-paper whereon the 

 number of candidates marked in the order of the 

 voter's preference is fewer than, or in excess of, the 

 number of members to be elected. 



2. He shall then proceed to ascertain the "quota" of 



votes necessary for the election of a candidate by 

 dividing the aggregate number of all the ballot-papers 

 contained in all the parcels by the number of mem- 

 bers to })e elected, and the result disregarding any 

 fractional remainder shall l)e the " quota." 



3. He shall then proceed to count the number of ballot- 



papers in each parcel, and every candidate who has 

 a number of first votes equal to or greater than the 

 quota shall be declared elected, and every ballot- 

 paper which has been once counted in the quota for 

 a candidate who is declared elected shall be set aside 

 as of no further use. 



All the ballot-papers in each parcel which are in 

 excess of the quota shall be set aside to be counted 

 for other candidates as hereinafter provided, and on 

 all such ballot-papers so set aside the name of any 

 candidate for whom the requisite number of ])allot- 

 papers has already been counted shall be deemed to 

 be cancelled, and the returning officer shall then 

 severally transfer such ballot-papers to the candi- 

 dates indicated thereon respectively as the next in 

 the order of the voter's preference, and the votes 

 thus transferred shall be deemed to have been given 

 for the candidates to whom they shall be transferred 

 as herein directed, and shall be deemed to be first 

 votes. 



This process shall be repeated until no candidate 

 has more than a quota of first votes, or votes deemed 

 first; and in every case in which the name of only one 

 candidate, or the names of a less number of candi- 

 dates than the number of members to be elected, have 



