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Proof of Equivalence of Webster's Method and Willcox's Method of Major Fractions

Written by:
RRS2014-04

Introduction

This note is a simpli cation and expansion of the proof of the equivalence of Webster's method and Willcox's method of major fractions found in Fair Representation: Meeting the Ideal of One Man, One Vote, by Michel Balinski and H. Peyton Young, p. 103-104. The proof in Fair Representation demonstrates that Webster's method minimizes a function, which Willcox's method of major fractions also happens to minimize; it doesn't directly refer to Willcox's method. In this paper I have modi ed the proof to explicitly show that the two methods are equivalent and to include details, such as unstated lines of reasoning and algebraic steps, omitted from the Fair Representation proof.

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Page Last Revised - October 28, 2021