[EM] Technical nomenclature regarding voting systems.

[robert bristow-johnson]

In my paper:

The Failure of Instant Runoff Voting to accomplish the very purpose for which it was adopted: An object lesson in Burlington Vermont

 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jIhFQfEoxSdyRz5SqEjZotbVDx4xshwM/view 

I wanted to boil down the Burlington 2009 IRV failure to these two principles:

   (1) One person, one vote
   (2) Majority rule

and these three desirable properties of elections:

   (3) Avoid spoiler effect
   (4) Disincentivize tactical voting
   (5) Precinct summability

I believe that (1) is called the "Principle of Anonymity" in scholarly circles, that (2) (as stated in the paper) is the "Condorcet Criterion", and that (3) is "Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives" (I am of the school that says *any* loser that changes the winner is a spoiler, not just losers that have no chance of winning.)

(5) is simply about Process Transparency, an important principle of fair and honest elections.

Is there a better or a more scholarly label for Property (4)?  In my paper I describe (4) as:

4. Voters should not be called upon to do “tactical voting”. Voters should feel free to simply vote their conscience and vote for the candidates they like best, without worrying about whom that they think is most electable... They should not have to sacrifice their vote for their favorite choice because they are concerned about “wasting” their vote and helping elect the candidate they loathe. Voters should be able to “Vote their hopes rather than vote their fears”.

Is there a technical name for (4)?  Would it be "Favorite Betrayal"?

Please remember that I am the neophyte schlub in this group.  Come to an Audio DSP forum and I might not be the schlub in that group.

--

r b-j . _ . _ . _ . _ rbj at audioimagination.com

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."

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