On Tue, 17 Jun 2003, Dave Ketchum wrote:
...
To me Condorcet is about as simple as it gets - list the candidates in order, starting with your favorite and continuing until you care not which of the remainder wins (which can only happen if none of those you do list wins). ...
Listing candidates in order is not that easy for most folks. Just figuring out who to put first is a major effort, hence all of the TV campaigning to attract the undecided swing voters. In countries where ranked ballots are used, most voters depend heavily on recommendations from unions, parties, or favorites.
Mentioning campaigning is a distraction - it does try to influence voters, but the current topic is how voters shall express their desires, once they have decided.
Which is easier to copy ... a ranked ballot or an approval ballot?
To vote for a single preferred candidate for Plurality, ranked, or Approval seems about equally simple, whether the candidate is chosen by the voter or copied from a cheat sheet.
I have trouble figuring out when a cheat sheet would have more than the one name it is promoting for a seat:
Could happen for Condorcet, with a favorite who is not expected to win followed by a less desirable but stronger candidate.
Would be a trifle easier for Approval, assuming it made sense to do.
We certainly agree that an independent voter could want to select more than one candidate:
With Condorcet you quit after you have ranked as many as you are willing and able to - easy enough.
With Approval the ballot marking is a bit easier, AFTER you have done the hard work of sorting out which candidates you wish to list.
Forest
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