[EM] Condorcet Voting

[Alex Small]

Dave Ketchum wrote:
>      I find random ballots acceptable for resolving true ties,
> assuming the authority conducting the election agrees.  I do not find
> them acceptable as an excuse for not doing what is possible with
> Condorcet vote counts.

Even in the case of a true tie, or a race so incredibly close that the
authorities cannot declare a winner with any reasonable certainty (e.g. a
margin of less than 100 votes out of a few million, or something like
that), I see no need for random selection.  One possible method is to work
from pre-existing districts of equal population (e.g. state legislative
districts in a gubernatorial race) and see which of the tied candidates
wins in each district (use a pairwise comparison in each district for
2-way ties, for ranked methods, and straight vote counts for methods like
Approval).  The method is deterministic, and based only on the votes cast
on election day, not the way a coin falls or whatever.  The rationale for
using the districts is spotty, but no spottier than the rationale for
flipping the coin.



Alex


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