[EM] Re: Counting Time

[Forest Simmons]

On Thu, 20 Jan 2005, Paul Kislanko wrote:

>
> Forest Simmons wrote (Thursday, January 20, 2005)
>
>> Here's a quick way to find the Condorcet Winner if there is one:
>>
>> Use Rob LeGrand's ballot by ballot approval idea, but instead
>> of ballot by
>> ballot, use voter by voter.
>>
>> For fairness, either randomize the order of polling the
>> voters or else
>> poll them twice, once from left to right, and once from right
>> to left, so
>> that each voter gets to vote twice.
>
> This is an example of how terminology can confuse me.
>
> In what way is "voter by voter" different from "ballot by ballot"? Until I
> read this I would have considered those phrases synonymous.
>

The ballot by ballot method requires the voters to fill out ballots.  The 
voter by voter method is for small groups where the voters can be polled 
in real time and their responses tallied on the white board.

[This "counting time" thread was originally about real time counting in 
small groups.]

In any order you ask the voters one-by-one which candidates they would 
like to approve, keeping a tally on the whiteboard for all to see, so each 
voter (after the first) knows who is ahead, who is in second place, etc. 
before stating their approvals.

To compensate for the disadvantage of being first in the first round, that 
voter gets to be last in the second (final) round.

Rob LeGrand has shown by simulation that (in practice) this method never 
fails to get the CW when there is one.

Forest