[EM] please read quick question about Condorcet

[Dave Ketchum]

On Thu, 18 Mar 2004 18:26:39 -0800 James Green-Armytage wrote:

> Hi folks,
> 	I was just wondering what sort of Condorcet tally methods have been
> proposed to process ballots that are not only ranked, but where some
> preferences are indicated as being stronger than others. For example, a
> vote may look like this:
> 
> Kucinich > Nader >> Dean >> Kerry > Edwards >> Clark >>> Lieberman >>>>
> Bush
> 
> 	For example, I have heard of one where, if there is a majority rule
> cycle, the lowest-priority preferences on each ballot are changed to
> equalities. I'm wondering if anything else has been proposed along these
> lines. 
> 
> thank you!
> James
> 
Seems to me that, for Condorcet, noticing a difference between ">" and ">>" 

introduces headaches beyond any possible public election value:

      What do we tell the voter this means - so that ALL voters and ALL 
counters are agreed?
      Tom votes A>B>C>D>E.  Must Dick vote E>>>>A to balance Tom's vote as 
to A vs E.

BTW - I do see "=" for equal - and equality among several candidates. 
Since, at any instant, Condorcet is only concerned with a single pair, 
more equality does not make more complexity.  Two voters voting A=B A=B 
should net the same results as voting A>B and A<B.

BTW - Candidates not mentioned by a voter:
      Are counted as liked less than each mentioned candidate.
      Are NOT counted as liked better than any other candidate.
-- 
  davek at clarityconnect.com    people.clarityconnect.com/webpages3/davek
  Dave Ketchum   108 Halstead Ave, Owego, NY  13827-1708   607-687-5026
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