Such unequal weighting of votes strikes us as utterly incompatible with the concept of one indivisible nation whose citizens share equal rights no matter where they live.
The movement's leaders have also called for changes to Thailand's electoral system, reducing the weighting of votes from rural and lesser-educated Thais.
By three means: arm-twisting, obfuscation and opt-outs.Arm-twisting worked on the main issue that caused the failure in December: the weighting of votes.
And many noted that if anything had been accomplished, it was a re-weighting of votes in the union that would guarantee that the four largest members -- France, Britain, Germany and Italy -- would be able to call the shots better than before.
The French concerns were clear at the recently concluded European Union summit meeting in Nice, where Mr. Chirac refused to accept a German request that its greater population should be reflected in the weighting of votes at European ministerial meetings.
The union is discussing three major areas of revision: how far to extend majority voting, which means abandoning some of the national vetoes that now exist; how to adjust the weighting of votes among member countries; and how to limit the size of the European Commission.
(w_{j}^{o}) indicates associated weights of votes in the jth place when alternative (x_{o}) is evaluated and (v_{ij}) shows the number of votes that the alternative (x_{i}) is received in the jth place.
Key suggestions are: 1) changing the basis of electoral districts from geographic area to age-cohort; 2) establishment of a new future generations district which can speak for the rights of those who are currently underage; and 3) weighting of votes cast by the younger generations, who may be at a numerical disadvantage in elections.
That is why some very sensitive issues, such as the composition of the Commission, the powers of the European Parliament, the weighting of votes, majority decision-making in the Council and the competence of the Court of Justice will have to be resolved.
