[EM] "Power" in Approval voting

[MIKE OSSIPOFF]

EM list--

Craig Carey's objection to Approval, based on a misconception of
power, is probably something that will often be heard when
Approval is proposed. So I'd like to answer it here.

Argument #1:

As Bart asked, can Craig or anyone else supply an example in
which some voter doesn't have the power to cancel-out any
other voter that he wants to?

When Bart asked that question, did Craig post an example? :-)

To save the trouble of looking for an example--any voter has
the power to cancel-out any other voter in Approval.

That by itself should settle the issue. But I'd like to comment
from a few other approaches too. These comments aren't essential
parts of one big argument; each, including the one in the
paragraphs before this, is, by itself, a valid refutation of the
"power" objection to Approval.

***

Argument #2:

Say your 1st choice is either the Democrat or the Republican,
almost sure to be one of the 2 frontrunners. Say my favorite is
the Green, unlikely to be one of the 2 frontrunners. Your best
strategy is to vote only for your favorite. My best strategy
is to vote for whichever of those almost certain top 2 frontrunners
I like best, and for everyone whom I like more, including the
Green, my favorite.

That means I vote for more candidates than you do. Does that mean
I have more power than you do? In what sense? You very likely have
the power to elect your favorite. I have to settle for someone
I like less than my favorite; that's why I'm voting for more than
one candidate. You have more power to get your way in that election.
Voting for more than one candidate doesn't change that fact; it's merely the 
way of accepting a compromise.

***

Say there are 3 candidates, A, B, & C. C is your favorite. A
is my favorite. A isn't likely to win, but B has a good chance
of beating C if everyone preferring B to C votes for C.

So I vote for A & B. B wins.

Do you have a legitimate complaint that I used too much power
against C or againsts you? More people prefer B to C than vice-
versa. So how much justification do you have for a claim that
C should win?

Can you object if the people preferring B to C express that
preference by voting for B & not for C? The fact that I voted
for A too doesn't add to my power against C. My vote for A didn't
make C lose. Only one of my votes made C lose--my vote for B.
I only cast one vote that was part of someone's winning total,
one vote that had a material effect, one vote that (if the winner
was near-tied) broke a tie and changed the outcome.

Should the fact that A is in the race have any effect on B's
ability to defeat C because more people prefer B to C?

***

Argument #3:

In Approval, no one can give more than one vote to any candidate
So no one can have more power than anyone with regard to actually
making someone win. My votes for losing candidates obviously
had no power or effect. [This is a briefer statement of argument
#2, and maybe there's more restatement in this list. But it seemed
important to number the arguments, to emphasize that they aren't
all necessary parts of one argument].

***

Argument #4:

An Approval ballot could be considered a vote for one set of
candidates over another set. Why shouldn't I be able to vote
for one set over another? How is that undue power?
"Set A is better than Set B". Is the cardinality of those 2
sets really relevant?

***

Argument #5:

Approval is a point system. In the familiar point system where
we rate everyone from 1 to 10, or from 0 to 100, etc., I've
never heard a claim that some voters have more power than others.
If I rate some candidates higher than you do, can you really
claim that I have more power than you do? Approval is a point
system of that type, with ratings of 0 & 1 available.

***

Argument #6:

In Approval, with respect to each candidate, each voter has the
same power to vote for or not vote for that candidate.

***

Argument #7:

Borda forces you to give votes to all but one of the candidates.
If voting for more candidates gives you more power, then why
is it necessary to force you to do so?

***

Mike Ossipoff

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