[EM] piling on against IRV

[robert bristow-johnson]

On May 6, 2010, at 5:33 PM, Dave Ketchum wrote:

>  I offer a sample race - possible though an unlikely extreme.  I use  
> "?" for ballot content where details do not matter:
>      2 A>?
>      9 B>A>?
>      9 C>A>?
>      9 D>A>?

i think what speaks louder than hypothetical races are real races:

  M 4064 > K 3477
  M 4597 > W 3664
  K 4313 > W 4061
  M 4570 > S 2997
  K 3944 > S 3576
  W 3971 > S 3793

every letter other than "M" appears to right of the ">" symbol.  in a  
democracy where the majority has preference over the minority to set  
policy, why would it be that any of those other candidates (K, W, S)  
would be a "winner" over M?

> "Majority" needs careful thought as to its purpose and meaning.  If  
> truly the largest group of voters is only 40%, we need thought as to  
> what is doable and what that means.

none of us (including the reactionaries who like FPTP and the two- 
party system) agree about what a "simple majority" means in a two- 
candidate race.  between any two candidates, there is always a  
majority, unless they tie.  i would begin with that meaning and, if at  
all possible, hold onto that in any election method.

--

r b-j                  rbj at audioimagination.com

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."