[EM] why 0-99 in range voting

[Juho]

On Nov 22, 2006, at 23:48 , James Gilmour wrote:

>> RLSuter at aol.com> Sent: 22 November 2006 19:52
>> In a message dated 11/22/06 12:11:20 PM Eastern Standard Time,
>> abd at lomaxdesign.com writes:
>>
>> << In meetings, voting on multiple-answer questions is rare. >>
>>
>> Yes, but why? Because very, very few people -- probably
>> less than 1% of U.S. citizens, are familiar with voting
>> methods that can handle such questions in satisfactory
>> ways.
>
> But maybe there is a simpler and more "natural" answer.  When we have
> the opportunity, i.e. in a face-to-face meeting, we reframe the
> questions to avoid having to give such complicated answers.  So we can
> break the multiple-choice down into a short sequence of "A or B"
> questions, each decided by a majority vote.  (In my view, and in my
> experience, that is a much better approach to what, at first sight,  
> can
> appear to be a multi-preference question.)  We also see a similar
> approach in the rules for dealing with multiple amendments to the same
> motion.
>
> James Gilmour

Maybe people would need some education on how to use the rich variety  
of voting methods. There are numerous interesting ways to vote on  
multiple answers and multi winner elections.

Clear yes or no questions (I prefer "yes or no" to "A or B") are  
often the best way to present the decision points. But sometimes  
multiple-answer elections require something better, like when there  
is a loop of three. Then the one who decides the order of voting  
(often the chairman) will decide who wins.

There are also multiple answers when one uses single member methods  
in multi member elections.

Boxing team of two members
- elect the first member from A, B, C and D
- elect the second member from the remaining candidates using the  
same ballots
- arranging a new election with new ballots is also possible but  
maybe not necessary

Colours in an advertisement
- elect one of combinations AB, AC, AD, BC, BD and CD
- six two-member candidates are formed to elect a combination from a  
set of four colours
- same method could be used for electing a tennis team of two (doubles)
- in these cases the value of the combination is important, not only  
the individual members

Elect a two-member team to represent our town in a meeting. Candiates  
are supposed to represent the whole city in a balanced way.  
Candidates A and B are democrats (55%). C and D are republicans (45%).
- don't use either of the methods above, use something proportional  
instead
- the likely outcome of either method would be election of two democrats
- it would be thus useful to understand when multi-winner methods are  
needed (and when not)

Juho Laatu
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