[EM] Majority Winners and 3-Level Approval

[Alex Small]

Demorep has argued quite strenuously that majority approval should be
necessary to avoid sending the decision to a legislative body, holding a
second election with new candidates, or leaving the office vacant (the
Libertarian side of me wouldn't mind if nobody is in a position to spend
tax dollars...).

Also, in the last few days I've developed an infatuation with 3-level
approval.  Sorry, regular approval, but my new voting method gives me the
same rush of excitement that I felt when I started studying election
methods.  Can we still be friends? ;)

In approval voting, if there are 3 candidates with roughly equal-size
camps, most voters might gamble that the other camps will cast cross-over
votes.  They might cast only one vote so as not to dilute support for
favorite.  This leads to a minority winner, outrageous Playboy interviews,
a stint with the XFL, and soon it's all gone to hell and thousands are
dying at Gettysburg...

(Sorry, I'm in a whimsical mood...)

3-level approval should greatly increase the odds of people casting cross-
over votes, making a majority winner far more likely.  In fact, in a 3-way
race, if almost everybody casts both a "preferred" vote and an "acceptable"
vote then a majority is almost guaranteed.

If this method is more amenable to voter psychology, and it prevents
another XFL then I'm all for it...

Alex

P.S.  Be nice to Jesse.  He strikes fear into the hearts of the
Republicrats, as well as anybody in his immediate vicinity... ;)

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