[EM] "we only get one shot" (Re: RCV Challenge)

[James Gilmour]

Top two runoff may be an improvement over FPTP, but it has very little to commend it.

And I am surprised anyone should quote France as a shining example.  Take a look at the results of the Presidential election in 2002, when the top two candidates (both right wing) had a total of only 36.74% of the first round votes because the larger (majority) left wing vote was split across a diversity of candidates who were all excluded from the second round.

So the majority of voters were not represented by a candidate of their choice.

James Gilmour

 

From: Election-Methods [mailto:election-methods-bounces at lists.electorama.com] On Behalf Of Daniel Carrera
Sent: 01 January 2022 00:45
To: Forest Simmons <forest.simmons21 at gmail.com>
Cc: EM <election-methods at lists.electorama.com>
Subject: Re: [EM] "we only get one shot" (Re: RCV Challenge)

 

 

On Fri, Dec 31, 2021 at 2:03 AM Forest Simmons <forest.simmons21 at gmail.com <mailto:forest.simmons21 at gmail.com> > wrote:

Yes, perfect for the general public, the politicians, and other voters ... but an easy target for the usual FairVote detractors. ... too easy for them to point out that unlike IRV, this method can elect the Universal Pairwise Loser .... the majority Loser in every head-to-head contest.

 

But the fix is easy ... instead of  saying " ...elect the candidate ranked first on the most ballots ..." just say "...elect the majority winner between the top two vote getters .."

 

 [however you want to describe the instant top two runoff].

 

People are already used to the idea of top two runoff when there is no majority winner ... and the pairwise information is already there for the instant version ... no need for a separate poll!

Yeah. I think a top-two runoff has a nice balance between simplicity / intuitive appeal while avoiding a reversion to FPTP. Arguably top-two runoff is the most widely used system that is better than FPTP since it's used in France and it was famously used in the state of Georgia this year. It's familiar.

 

Cheers,

-- 

Dr. Daniel Carrera

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Iowa State University



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