[EM] Plan's changes result in new Single Seat method

[Donald E Davison]

Gretings List,

     I have so completely changed the math of my Single Seat election Plan
that it can now be called a new single seat method.
     The purpose of these Plans was to offer a method in which the primary
would be inside of the general election and to offer the voter optional
ranking of candidates and/or ranking of parties, in any mix.
     The following is my new Plan for large Single Seat partisan elections:

     Plan One - The Davison Single Seat Plan - 03/23/99

     This is a plan that combines the Primary inside of the general
election and in which the voter is allowed optional ranking of candidates
and/or the ranking of political parties, in any mix.

     Regular Choice Run-Off (aka Alternative Vote aka Instant Run-Off) is
able to handle the Primary inside of the general election, but the routine
will need some changes when we also allow the ranking of parties.

     Plan One will work as follows:

     Because the Primary will be included inside the method of the plan, we
can expect that most of the parties will be running more than one
candidate. After the election all the votes are counted according to the
first choice on each ballot. We should have vote sums for each of the
candidates and each of the parties.

     Because we have vote sums headed by both candidates and parties we
need a way to combine them, and that way is the rule that the party vote
sum is to be transferred to the final remaining candidate of the same
party, at the time he becomes the final candidate of his party. And it
follows that after that transfer, any future transfers to the party are
instead to be transferred to his same last candidate of the party.

     With this rule in place, we can proceed by eliminating the lowest
candidate and transferring his votes. As we eliminate each newest losest
candidate, we keep in mind that whenever a candidate becomes the last
candidate of his party, the party votes are to be transferred to him. We
continue eliminating candidates until we only have one remaining, that
candidate is the winner.

     This Plan One is a bit more complicated than regular Choice Run-Off
but it is necessary if we are to offer the option of voting for parties. By
allowing people to vote for party, we will be separating the voters who are
informed about the candidates from the voters who are only informed about
their parties. This should result in a better qualified candidate being
elected - this is necessary for us to have better government.

     Party conventions and caucus methods for selecting party candidates
cannot be trusted to be honest nor democratic. I still remember people
crossing the state line to vote in the Iowa caucus during the 1996
presidential election.

     A separate open primary has its problems of cross party voting, extra
cost exhausting money needed for the general election, and damage done to
candidates by their own parties in the primary hurting them in the general
election.
     Combining the primary with the general election solves these problems.

     The voters should have the option to vote for candidates and/or
parties. I've seen reports of eighty to ninety percent of the voters
chosing to vote for party where they had the option. When we force people
to vote only for candidates, we are getting results that are eighty percent
suspect, because eighty percent of the voters do not know the candidates
well enough to vote for them. The larger election systems should allow the
people who are informed about the candidates to rank the candidates, but
also the system should allow people who wish to vote for party only, to
vote for party only.

     Complete changes have also been made to my plans for multi-seat elections.

Regards,
Donald

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 T H E   C O D E   O F   H O N O R   F O R   R E F O R M   A C T I V I S T S

     Any group of reform activists that are thinking about a petition drive
to place a proposal on the ballot are to present their proposal beforehand
to all other reform activists that they know of. The time for debate and
negative comments is before the petition stage. Once the group makes its
final proposal and enters the petition stage, the debates and negative
comments by all reform activists is to cease.
    At this time each activist is to make an honest evaluation. If the
initiative will improve government then each activist is to find it in his
heart to support the initiative, even if it is not exactly what the
activist would like.

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   |                         Q U O T A T I O N                         |
   |  "Democracy is a beautiful thing,                                 |
   |       except that part about letting just any old yokel vote."    |
   |                            - Age 10                               |
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