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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I don’t mean to be flippant, but what
voting as performed by a voter would not be “preferential”? Any
collection procedure that gives the voter a choice asks for a preference. So “preferential
voting” is a noise phrase that doesn’t mean anything at all since
it applies to every method that asks for voter input. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I suppose you could make an argument that “preferential
voting” is the voters’ act of voting for their preferences as
opposed to voting opposite their preferences (by any method), or that “preferential
voting” is “preferring to vote or preferring not to vote”. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>But to quote the very wise HAL-9000
(somewhat out of context) “The phrase does not admit an explanation.”
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>If I had to define it formally, I’d
use:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Preferential voting; n. Example of a
non-sequiter.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'> Toplak Jurij
[mailto:jure.toplak@uni-mb.si] <br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Thursday, August 19, 2004
5:39 PM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> Paul Kislanko;
election-methods@electorama.com<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Definition of
preferential voting</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>During the last days the discussion on this list
has focused primarily on the terminology. Coincidently I am working on a paper
that tries to define "preferential voting". </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Literature offers numerous understandings and definitions:</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>- 'preferential voting' is often used as a synonim for
Alternative Vote or IRV</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>- 'preferential voting' is sometimes used as another name
for STV</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>- 'preferential voting' is often used to
denote 'ranking methods' (thus including STV, AV, Borda, etc.)</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>- 'preferential voting is often used to denote a preference
for a single candidate within List PR (this definition is used mainly in <st1:place
w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>)</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>- mathematicians put first-past-the-post in the group of
preferential voting schemes, but approval voting is not a member of this group</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>- some authors put US primaries under 'preferential voting'
(Katz, for instance)</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Is it possible to define preferential voting at all?</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>I'd be grateful for any comments.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>jure</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
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