[EM] Best Method In Use

[MIKE OSSIPOFF]

I only know of 3 single-winner methods that are used in public
political elections, and all 3 are used in national elections:

1. Plurality (aka 1-vote Plurality or 1st Past The Post (FPTP) ).
2. Top-2 Runoff (aka Runoff)
3. IRVf (aka the Alternative Vote, Preferential Voting,
   Majority Preferential Voting, Hare)


Of those, I claim that Runoff is the best. One advantage that Runoff
has over IRV is that, with Runoff, at least a CW can't lose if s/he
comes in 1st or 2nd in the 1st balloting, whereas in IRV a CW can
lose even if s/he's the favorite of by far the most people. The
scenario in which that happens isn't at all implausible. It requires
only that candidates' favoriteness support taper gradually for candidates 
farther away from that Plurality winner CW. Then, the
eliminations at the extremes, and the centerward transfers, will reach
candidates adjacent to that CW before they reach the CW, and the
CW will likely be eliminated.

IRV's poor social utility scores in simulations resulted from the
frequent elimination of median candidates, probably happening largely as 
described above.

France has used other 2-balloting methods that allowed more than just
2 candidates in the 2nd balloting, it seems to me. One, I believe,
included in the 2nd balloting candidates who'd gotten more than 12%
of the votes in the 1st balloting. I consider that better than
top-2 Runoff, so I'd call it the best, but it isn't now in use.

You asked about national elections, but what about international ones?

The Secretary General of the U.N. is elected by Approval (though the
winner is subject to veto).

Isn't international governance as important as national?

So, if you count the U.N.'s election of Secretary General, then
Approval is by far the best method in use, counting national and 
international elections.

Though your question was about official governance elections, let
me just add that Approval is also used by mathematical and
engineering professional societies with combined membership in excess
of 600,000.

Mike Ossipoff




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