[EM] Re: Voting Systems Study of the League of Women Voters of Minnesota

[Abd ulRahman Lomax]

At 02:09 AM 6/8/2005, Jobst Heitzig wrote:
>[I had written:]
> > So promoting Approval voting might be as simple as pointing out the
> > injustice of it. I can't see any reason for *preventing* a person from
> > voting for more than one candidate. Allowing it merely adds to the
> > freedom of the voter without complicating the process. For me, the
> > question is "Why not" rather than "Why?"
>
>I agree completely! And once that has been widely accepted, more sophisticated
>methods can be promoted which try to improve approval voting by adding
>additional safety measures -- such as the additional pairwise comparision 
>in DFC.

One problem, I think, has been the existence of some state Supreme Court 
legal precedent that Approval Voting violates the "one person - one vote" 
principle. As I pointed out, and as is discussed in the League of Women 
Voters election methods paper, the precedent is a bit unclear. Does anyone 
know more about the legal status of this?

(It is patently obvious to me that Approval does not violate the *intent* 
of the principle, merely the form of words which that intent took. Good 
legal analysis would therefore consider it lawful, in my opinion; or where 
that principle is enshrined in law, it might be possible to amend the law 
to make the intent clear. It would not really be a change in intention, 
only in effect.)