[EM] A design flaw in the electoral system

[Michael Allan]

Andrew Myers wrote:
> I think we should be a little more careful here. Just because a
> voter's vote has no effect on the outcome of an election does not
> mean that the vote has no effect.  By voting you are affecting the
> margin of victory or defeat. And vote margins still matter to
> politicians -- they signal whether the politicians are taking the
> right positions and making convincing arguments.

It's a real effect, I agree.  I was in off-list discussions about this
earlier.  The first section (not yet drafted) will have to address
exceptions such as this.

But it would be difficult to base a counter-argument on this.  There's
a catch in that we're constrained to talking about a single unit of
difference in the least significant digits of the result, or in the
margin of victory.

-- 
Michael Allan

Toronto, +1 416-699-9528
http://zelea.com/


Andrew Myers wrote:
> On 7/22/64 2:59 PM, Michael Allan wrote:
> > Dear Juho and Fred,
> >
> >>> Your vote never made a difference.  Most people feel uncomfortable
> >>> or perplexed in this knowledge, and I think the feeling indicates
> >>> that something's wrong.
> >
> > Juho Laatu wrote:
> >> I'm not sure that most people feel uncomfortable with this. Many
> >> have learned to live as part of the surrounding society, and they
> >> don't expect their vote to be the one that should decide between two
> >> alternatives.
> >
> > I certainly never expected my own vote to be decisive in an election.
> > But knowing it has *no* effect on the outcome?  This is unexpected and
> > makes me uneasy.  (more below)
> 
> I think we should be a little more careful here. Just because a voter's 
> vote has no effect on the outcome of an election does not mean that the 
> vote has no effect.  By voting you are affecting the margin of victory 
> or defeat. And vote margins still matter to politicians -- they signal 
> whether the politicians are taking the right positions and making 
> convincing arguments.
> 
> -- Andrew