[Phys-L] Re: A novel voting system

[Bernard Cleyet <anngeorg@PACBELL.NET>]

Here is San Francisco the Tuesday election was their first use of IRV
(instant runoff voting or ranked choice voting). From all accounts it
worked well.  Here's an article (Takoma Park, MD) referenced by UNDERNEWS:

http://fairvote.org/


bc

p.s. What's the difference between voting twice in two elections in
order for a candidate to win by gaining a majority of votes and twice in
one election for the same effect?  [Point (1) below]  In (second) runoff
elections, often w/ decreased participation, the top two from the first
are the only candidates.  Is it not possible that the third candidate
was the second preference of a majority of the voters?   And, therefore,
IRV is more accurate?

Edmiston, Mike wrote:

> (1) I disagree with Tim F. that straying from "one person one vote" will
> open Pandora's box.  The idea of voting is to add my input into who
> holds a particular post.  My input is severely limited by the one-vote
> method unless there are only two candidates, or there is only one
> candidate I want (or can tolerate).  As soon as there are multiple
> candidates the one-vote method seems dumb because it would be so easy
> for me to give a much more accurate indication of my preferences by a
> method that still allows easy tabulation by voting machines.
>
> I am often faced with a situation in which I could easily support two of
> three candidates, but not the third.  I would be greatly relieved if we
> ranked votes because I would almost always be confortable giving a
> one-vote to one of my choices, a two-vote to the other of my choices,
> and no-vote to the guy I don't like.  It seems so simple.
>
> (2) I agree with Tim that negative votes aren't necessary and might even
> be construed as nasty.  I think giving zero votes to candidates I don't
> like sends the appropriate message without making it appear I have the
> power to negate someone else's vote.  I realize that it is just
> semantics because my +1 vote for a candidate essentially negates someone
> else's +1 vote for my candidate's opponent.  But that doesn't strike
> people as bad as if I actually had the power to take votes away from a
> candidate.
>
> Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
> Professor of Chemistry and Physics
> Bluffton University
> Bluffton, OH 45817
> (419)-358-3270
> edmiston@bluffton.edu
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