[EM] Re: Candidate withdrawal option

[Russ Paielli]

James Green-Armytage jarmyta-at-antioch-college.edu |EMlist| wrote:
> 	Mike has recommended CWO as an improvement on Condorcet-wv (although he
> does not see the improvement as an urgent one. Is there anyone who thinks
> that adding CWO to ranked pairs or beatpath would be a bad idea? Anyone
> else who thinks its a good idea? The more people weigh in, the better.

I don't know the details of CWO, but let me bring up a few potential 
concerns regarding implementation.

If you're talking about a procedure that could change the result of an 
election, the procedure needs to be spelled out in precise legalistic 
terms. Does a candidate need to be physically present at a pre-specified 
location to officially withdraw? What if the candidate is ill and can't 
show up in person? Can he withdraw by phone? If so, how is the 
candidate's identity verified?

What is the time limit for withdrawal? Is it hours, days, or weeks? And 
what if the results are very close or the counting process hits a 
technical snag? Does the candidate get extra time to wait for confirmed 
counts before he must decide?

Is it possible that one candidate might want to withdraw only after 
another particular candidate withdraws? If so, this could get 
complicated. What if the first candidate tries to withdraw at the last 
second to deny the second candidate enough time to withdraw? Would the 
second candidate get some sort of minimum additional time to withdraw?

--Russ