[EM] Approval: #votes allowed must exceed #seats

[MIKE OSSIPOFF]

Steve wrote:

My hometown, Oshkosh, WI, used what appears to be the equivalent of an 
Approval
Vote in the last City Council election. There were 4 candidates for 3 seats 
in
an at-large (multi-winner) district, and the ballot instructed voters to 
"Vote
for not more than 3" - see the sample ballot at:


I reply:

If we were going to call it a multiwinner Approval election, the
voter would have to be able to vote for as many candidates as s/he wants
to. If the number of votes allowed equals the number of seats in
the election, that's just the usual at-large city council method.

But the postal department a year or 2 ago used Approval for
customer poll on which stamps to issue, for various decades, in
various categories. In each category in each decade, one stamp would
be issued, and the voting was by Approval.

I'm not sure, but maybe the voter was limited to voting for 3
candidates, with maybe more candidates in the election.

Also, the way California (and maybe other states) votes for conflicting
initiatives resembles Approval. I call it Y/N Approval. It isn't as
good as Approval, but it could be considered a precedent toward Approval.

Recommend Approval wherever fptp is being used, for popularity polls,
organization or committee votes, etc. Approval is an obvious improvement
over Plurality, and is a modest change, easily implemented.

Mike Ossipoff


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