The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-02-25

Not only is the short ballot the basis of the city manager plan be-
 cause under it only the council men are elected, but the principle is pushed to its logical conclusion by that plan. While the ordinary voter finds 1t hard to follow the details of administration, he does know what POLICY should be carried out by the administrators.
 While there may be as many as seven councilmen elected at a time and many candidates for each seat, there is only one KIND of office to be filled. That makes the voters task of the utmost simplicity. He really has only one job, deciding which of the candi- dates comes nearest his own views as to what purposes his city shall carry out.
 The vital importance of this re- finement of the short ballot priI1- ciple in the functioning of the council-manager plan cannot be over-emphasized or overestimated. After all, since water cannot rise higher than its source, the suc- cess of the plan depends upon get- ting good council The task of electing a council is the one that every voter can do best and under the manager plan that is all the voter has to do. No wonder the councils chosen under 1t are gen. erally excellent and people have confidence in them to pick good managers.
 Proportional Representation
 Several cities which have adopt- ed the manager plan have also adopted another device for mak- ing the council more representa- tive. This device is called propor- tional representation.
 Proportional representation is a system of voting which is based on the principle that every sufficient- ly large group of like-minded vot- CTS shall have the same share of members elected that 1t has of the total votes cast.
 The chief advantage of propor- tional representation over the present electoral system is that 1t ensures every voter that his vote will count. If the man for whom he has expressed a first choice is not popular enough to be elected, his vote will be applied toward the election of his second choice can- dfdates. If the second choice can- didate is not sufficiently popular, his third choice will count, and so on. On the other hand, if voter has expressed first choice for a candidate who has more than the quota of votes necessary for election, his second choice vote will count, for his first choice can didate is elected anyhow.
 The method of counting votes in order to ensure these results is a little slower than the old method but 1t is accurate, and its results are important, for when the count is completed 1t is seen that each group in the city has exactly the number of council seats 1t is en- titled to.
 The most significant advantages of this system are: CD 1t ensures both majority rule and minority representation; CD 1t allows a vot- CT to express a free choice among many candidates without fear of throwing his vote away: (3) 1t tends to eliminate corruption at elections because a few votes il- legally or corruptly cast do not have the great effect of deciding the result that they have at the usual election: (4 and. most im- portant to the best working of the manager plan, 1t makes the repre- sentative council so truly repre- sentative that 1t can be trusted to choose the administrator who shall carry out the policy the council decides upon.
 Some of the most successful manager cities have used the pro- portional representation system of electing their city councils, They include Cincinnati, Toledo. and Hamilton, Ohio: Wheeling, West Virginia; and Boulder. Col orado. Yonkers, New York, adopt- ed city -manager-P. R. charter at the November 1888 elections. New York City has been using propor- tional representation to elect its council since 1037.
 In the next article we will con- sieier some weaknesses of the older methods of governing cities and thus learn how the manager plan came to be.