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[Phys-L] Re: A novel voting system



(1) I disagree with Tim F. that straying from "one person one vote"=
=20
will open Pandora's box. =20

I don't think Michael really disagrees with me - perhaps I just didn'=
t explain well enough.

I would be greatly relieved if we ranked votes because I would=20
almost always be confortable giving a one-vote to one of my=20
choices, a two-vote to the other of my choices, and no-vote=20
to the guy I don't like. It seems so simple.

I agree that some order of preference is good in multi-candidate race=
s. In the BC system, this is acheived by an immediate run-off electi=
on if no one gets a majority. In this case, the bottom vote-getter i=
s dropped. If your 1st choice is still in the running, you still vot=
e for him/her. If you top choice was last, he is droppped. If you i=
ndicated a second choice, then you are now voting for your second cho=
ice - otehr wise you are deciding not to vote in the run-off. Contin=
ue until someone has a majority of the votes cast in that round. You=
get one vote *in each round* - which was my preference and the point=
I was trying to make. You don't get multiple votes in a single roun=
d, nor do you get to split your vote within a single round.


I still don't like negative votes, which (as John D pointed out) is m=
athematically equivalent to a positive vote for everyone else. A sli=
ghtly better system would be a positive vote for everyone you would a=
ccept, but then you get more than one vote and many people could rece=
ive a majority. If you simply take the top vote-getter, then the lea=
st objectionable candidate would win, rather than the most supported.=
That is certainly one way to decide an election, but being least ob=
jectionable doesn't seem like the best answer, either.

Tim F
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