FAQ Candidate (Re: [ER] Methods versus Selling)

Steve Eppley seppley at alumni.caltech.edu
Thu Feb 20 19:07:39 PST 1997


John De Lasaux asked:
> So, how do we "sell" the "appropriate methods" (more than one!!)
> to the electorate?

Hammer home how the existing methods violate important criteria
(majority rule, no "lesser of evils" dilemma, no "spoiler" dilemma,
etc.) so good candidates are deterred from competing, which prevents
the voters from being able to clearly express their preferences on
the issues.  And explain that there are better and practical methods,
and how to get there from here (no Constitutional amendment needed).

It would help if CV&D, a non-profit educational organization to
which many people look for info on these questions, would not
present misleading information.  (This might violate their non-
profit tax-deductible educational charter, but I'm not a tax 
lawyer so I don't know.  Maybe the IRS can answer this...)

Demorep wrote:
-snip-
> However, I note that the 15th, 19th and 26th Amendments did happen
> (giving the right to vote for blacks, women and 18 year olds
> respectively) despite long standing opposition.

Fortunately, the Constitution is silent on most aspects of the
voting method--leaving it to each state, even for voting on federal
offices--so it's not as hard to achieve reform of the voting 
method. 

---Steve     (Steve Eppley    seppley at alumni.caltech.edu)



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