The South

[minionofmidas]

Elections at large with everybody having as many votes as there are seats are the least democratic system of representation available...tellingly they are the most commonly used alternative to single member districts in the US.
STV is something quite different. It's currently used in Ireland, Northern Ireland and (with single member districts) Australia. I think there are a handful of cities in the US that currently use it, fairvote.org probably has a complete list...
If the districts are large enough (5 is a bare minimum) it's the most democratic system available, because unlike normal PR, it takes into account that parties are not equidistant.

[minionofmidas]

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Most local elections in the U.K are done like that...

But with two or three member districts if I remember right, so it's not an absolute catastrophe...

PS Realpolitik, we need YOU to join the Constitutionalist Party!

[minionofmidas]

But with two or three member districts if I remember right, so it's not an absolute catastrophe...

Usually. But not in Birmingham... [shudders]

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Going into fantasy mode:
I'm going to make the Constitutionalist Party an affiliate of the Democratic Party in West Virginia (kinda like the Co-op party in the U.K and used to be common in the U.S when there were powerful third parties). That way I (er... I mean the Citizens of West Virginia) can have my (er... their) cake and eat it.

Senator Al Realpolitik
Chair: UMW
Chair: AFWVDP

Now wait a second...The WV Constitutionalists as well as the WV Democrats will have to decide on that...
So you'll have to join us for a minute (you can do that by osting in the conststitutional party thread), affiliate yourself with yourelf and then you can go back to being a Democrat...
UMW is United Mine Workers?

[minionofmidas]

Something worth a look: the CD map of MS for the 1980 election (on this site, but you need to be a member).
Compare it to the current map.

Could you give us a short overview? Don't export the actual maps of course, just describe the general idea?