[EM] The list's complete rejection of the poll

Michael Ossipoff mikeo2106 at msn.com
Tue Feb 20 07:59:41 PST 2007


It calls for a little comment. A number of times before, I've proposed 
polls, and usually a number of people voted. Enough to do a meaningful, 
interesting count. This is the first one in which not even one person (other 
than myself) voted.

Obviously that's always a possibility. It was a possibility with each one of 
the previous polls I conducted here. That never stopped me from proposing 
those polls, just as it didn't prevent me from proposing the current one.

Likewise, one wouldn't offer any methods or criteria if one worried about 
"what if it isn't popular, or isn't accepted at all?" wv Condorcet was a 
proposal of mine that caught on pretty well. So did FBC. My other criteria 
got a little favorable attention. Steve Eppley proposed some related (but 
different) ones, and mentioned my (but not favorably). There was a little 
interest in the majority defensive strategy criteria, but fashon moves on, 
and I accept that, and it doesn't matter. I wanted to propose those criteria 
because _I_ think they're important. That's all the reason I need to propose 
something.

Same with polls. I've said that you don't know how you feel about the 
methods, and you don't understand the methods, till you vote with them and 
count them. I stand by that statement. There should be a presidential EM 
poll. There is one. That's good enough.

I've told a number of advantages of my poll over the usual Internet 
automated polls. Another advantage that I haven't mentioned yet is that, 
with list-posted ballots, you can obsereve the votes coming in, and can 
count them yourself--you can participate in a way that is impossible with an 
automated Internet poll.

Anyway, the list's complete rejection of the poll called for comment, so 
that's my comment.

Mike Ossipoff





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