[EM] Asset Voting (was: Simplifying Ballots)

[Alex Small]

Two things:

First, as Paul Kislanko pointed out, with asset voting it wouldn't just be about a handful of candidates.  Any idiot with a following could (and undoubtedly would) declare himself a candidate for President.  Evangelists, talk show hosts, actors, self-help gurus, activists, psychics ("Ms. Cleo for President!"), you name it.  So, to avoid a ballot with 10,000 names on it, it might be nice to have a significant signature requirement to participate.
 
(Just look at the number of candidates for the California gubernatorial recall.  In addition to a State Senator, a State Assembly leader, and a few prominent businessmen, we had a whole bunch of freaks.  Most of the freaks were obscure, but they also included a porn star, a midget actor-turned mall cop, an annoying pundit who would be nowhere if she hadn't married and then divorced a rich guy, and even an action star who can't handle scenes with dialogue.)
 
But that's a detail.
 
Another thought is that it might actually be pitched as a way to return to the original spirit of the electoral college:  Have a bunch of widely-supported people (as well as Gary Coleman) show up and hash it out to make a decision.
 
 
Alex Small

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com/attachments/20050816/e8e76376/attachment-0002.htm>