[EM] Approval with 2 ballotings

[MIKE OSSIPOFF]

This is just a brief preliminary reply to Alex's message about
Approval with 2 ballotings.

I agree that for replacing municipal elections that now use Runoff,
people likely will be reluctant to give up the top-2 runoff.

I once suggested letting all the candidates into the 2nd balloting,
so that it would be up to the voter if s/he wants to abandon a
low-polling candidate. The progressive city-councilmember that I was
talking to replied that she wouldn't consider letting more than 2
candidates into the 2nd balloting. It most likely would be unproductive
to try to get people to accept that change.

The above considerations suggest that if we propose Approval for
municipal elections now done by Runoff, then the Approval balloting
should be followed by a top-2 runoff. It's a matter of suggesting merely 
that people be allowed to vote for as many as they want to in
the 1st balloting instead of only for 1.

The important elections of course are the partisan elections that
don't use a runoff. I don't care if they keep the party primaries.
No doubt people would insist on it, though I agree with the Libertarians
that parties have no right to expect the public to pay for parties'
voting to decide whom they'll run.

Anyway, obviously plain 1-balloting Approval is what one would replace
Plurality with in the general election in those partisan elections
that don't have a runoff.

More after New Year's Day.

Mike Ossipoff


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