[EM] One Man One Vote in equation form; Power and rejecting Approval
Markus Schulze
markus.schulze at alumni.tu-berlin.de
Tue Aug 6 13:06:09 PDT 2002
Dear Craig,
you wrote (6 Aug 2002):
> Mr Schulze [who had to quit the Election Methods List, perhaps the
> members were not intereted in voting], has a paper in Wichmann's
> 'Voting Matters' mini-journal on STV.
There is no reason to believe that I "had to quit the Election
Methods List".
Markus Schulze
P.S.: In the mentioned paper (Markus Schulze, "On Dummett's 'Quota
Borda System'", Voting Matters, vol. 1, issue 15, pp. 10-13, 2002),
I prove that Dummett's "Quota Borda System" (which is believed by
many social scientists to meet monotonicity) actually violates
monotonicity.
http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/publications/votingmatters/index.htm
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Date: Tue, 6 Aug 2002 19:17:41 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Alex Small" <asmall at physics.ucsb.edu>
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Subject: [EM] Instant Runoff Voting in Alaska
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Mr. Dasbach-
I'm a dues-paying Libertarian and on the e-mail list. I'm also an
afficionado of alternative voting systems (there's a lot of math in it,
and as a physicist and political junkie it combines my interests quite
nicely). I just read the message about a push for Instant Runoff Voting
in Alaska. I'm cc'ing my reply to a group of fellow election methods
junkies (including academics who have published research in the field, and
a Libertarian candidate in TX).
I'm writing because, well, although alternative election systems are
absolutely necessary for breaking the state-imposed political duopoly
(we're one of the only nations on earth not using alternative systems),
Instant Runoff Voting is a poor choice of methods. I realize that
progress is about improvement rather than perfection, and I do agree that
Instant Runoff is an improvement.
However, the flaws of Instant Runoff Voting (IRV hereafter) are
horrendous. Also, experience shows that it has done a very poor job of
breaking political duopolies in other nations. Proportional
Representation in legislative bodies is probably the only election method
with a nearly perfect track record of breaking down government-imposed
barriers to political competition and affording people greater freedom of
choice.
With IRV, it is possible for a candidate to actually lose because he got
too much support. (A good reference for this weird paradox is
http://electionmethods.org/IRVproblems.htm, a page that I am NOT
affiliated with). Furthermore, once a candidate gets a large enough share
of the votes, (about 25% in a 3-way race, 20% in a 4-way race, and so on)
he actually CAN become a spoiler.
You need only look at the recent French Presidential election: Candidates
from the left divided the vote, resulting in a runoff between an extremist
(Le Pen) and a more moderate candidate who was nonetheless not high on the
list of most voters. IRV certainly lessens the chance of this happening,
but the possibility is still very much there.
I realize that this is a long message, so I'll just offer this: I would
not be writing if IRV were the only alternative method for single-winner
elections, or even the best of many alternatives. However, superior
methods are available (e.g. Approval Voting, for resources see
http://bcn.boulder.co.us/government/approvalvote/center.html and
http://electionmethods.org/approved.htm).
My fear is that if an inferior reform is adopted, it will leave voters
disenchanted with the concept of election reform and stymie further
progress. The only obstacle steeper than those imposed by the
Republicrats is an electorate that has become jaded by failed reforms.
Anyway, thank-you for reading this.
Sincerely,
Alex Small
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From: "Alex Small" <asmall at physics.ucsb.edu>
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Subject: [EM] [Fwd: Instant Runoff Voting Opportunity in Alaska]
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-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Instant Runoff Voting Opportunity in Alaska
From: Libertarian Party Announcements <owner-announce at lp.org>
Date: Tue, August 6, 2002 2:00 pm
To: announce at hq.lp.org
Cc:
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
===============================================================
NEWS from the Libertarian Party
2600 Virginia Avenue, NW Suite 100
Washington DC 20037
===============================================================
For more information contact:
Executive Director Steve Dasbach
Mailto:SteveDasbach at HQ.LP.org
Phone 202-333-0008 Ext. 228
===============================================================
Fellow Libertarians,
The 2002 National Libertarian Party Convention amended our platform plank
on Election Laws to express support for Instant Runoff Voting (IRV).
Below is an announcement from Gordon Hartlieb, chair of the Alaska LP,
about an initiative in Alaska to adopt IRV for most state and federal
offices. If you're interested in election reform and IRV, I encourage you
to read the following message.
Steve Dasbach
Executive Director
===============================================================
Dear fellow Libertarians:
This is Gordon Hartlieb, chair of the Alaska Libertarian Party.
I am writing to let you know about a ground breaking election
reform opportunity in Alaska that will be good for the
Libertarian Party -- not just here in Alaska but all across the nation.
On August 27, Alaskan voters will decide whether to adopt an
electoral reform known as Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) for all
state and federal offices, including the President and U.S. Senate (but
not including the governor, for state constitutional reasons). If this
initiative (Ballot Measure 1) passes, it will eliminate the dreaded
"spoiler" concern that often hamstrings third parties like ours. This
"spoiler" issue causes so many voters, who are otherwise supportive of
Libertarians, to vote for the "lesser of two evils"
candidate, rather than vote for the candidate they truly support and
believe in. This dynamic is very corrosive of our democracy and
undermines the electoral success of the LP.
As you may know, support for IRV is now part of the national LP
platform. It has also been endorsed by the Libertarian Party of
Alaska. In a nutshell, IRV combines a regular election and a runoff
election into a single election, by allowing voters to indicate not only
their first choice candidate, but (if they want) also their second choice
candidate, their third choice candidate, etc.--as many or as few choices
as they wish. (For more information about how IRV
works, visit this link:
http://www.AlaskansforVotersRights.com/how.htm )
In this way, the true level of support for Libertarian candidates and
ideas will become known. And, because our candidates won't be
plagued by the "spoiler" dynamic, we will be able to run harder, speak
louder, get more media coverage and be included in more candidate
debates.
IRV isn't just for Alaskans, however. An IRV initiative that passed in
San Francisco (with support from the local LP) on March 5 enacted
IRV to be used to elect all local offices. Also in March a non-binding
IRV initiative was passed by 53 of 56 Vermont towns in which it was
considered (also with support from LP members), urging IRV to be
adopted for state and federal elections in that state. IRV has been
considered by 13 state legislatures and is being used in many private
elections in the U.S. -- including by the Utah Republican Party for
elections of party officials and nominations of candidates for general
elections. There's no doubt about it -- IRV has real political "legs"
in many locales across the nation.
IRV is also a very fiscally prudent reform. Right now, in cities and
states all over the United States, including Alaska, two-round runoff
elections are used to elect winners with a majority of the runoff vote.
Electing majority winners is a very worthy goal, and with IRV the job can
be done in one election, instead of two. Significant taxpayer savings
will be realized by saving the cost of the second (runoff) election, and
voters will be able vote their conscience without helping to elect the
candidate they most despise.
What makes Ballot Measure 1 so crucial is that it would make Alaska the
first state to adopt IRV for nearly all state and federal
elections. Ballot Measure 1 is definitely winnable. It has the backing
of every political party in Alaska except one--the Democratic Party.
Because of their opposition--and that of some radical environmental
groups, such as Alaskan Conservation Voters-- we have a tough fight, and
are asking for support from around the country. The national
battleground for electoral reform right now is in Alaska.
But of this you can be certain: the Libertarian Party of Alaska is
working hard with the official Ballot Measure 1 campaign committee --
Alaskans for Voters Rights--to pass this measure on August 27.
You can learn more about this campaign in Alaska for IRV by visiting the
official campaign website, http://www.AlaskansforVotersRights.com If you
have friends or family in Alaska, please contact them and urge them to be
sure to vote in the primary, and vote YES on Ballot Measure 1.
Also, if you'd like to support this important effort, contact:
Alaskans for Voters Rights
P.O. Box 93588
Anchorage, AK 99509-3588.
http://www.AlaskansforVotersRights.com
907-569-4IRV (4478)
alaska at instantrunoff.com
Thank you very much, and please wish us great luck and success.
Gordon Hartlieb
Chair, Libertarian Party of Alaska
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