From: Steve Eppley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Hi, > >This message isn't about a new idea, but I believe the idea is important enough >to repeat. > It's a way to simplify voting, to sharply reduce the campaign costs for good >compromise >candidates, and to guard against the risk that a significant number of voters >will neglect >to rank some good compromise candidate capable of defeating a "greater evil." > > 1. Before election day, each candidate publishes a top-to-bottom > ordering of the candidates. > > 2. On election day, each voter votes by selecting a candidate. > (What could be simpler?) > > 3. To tally the election, each vote is treated as if it's the ordering > published by its selected candidate. These orderings are tallied by > a good voting method, such as Maximize Affirmed Majorities (MAM). > > The orderings may be "weak." (Also known as a "non-strict.") > This means candidates may be ranked as equals. > > Candidates omitted from an ordering will be treated as if they'd been > ranked at the bottom (less preferred than the candidates not omitted).
>The reason I believe this would reduce the campaign costs for good compromise >candidates >is that they would succeed by persuading other candidates they are better than >"greater >evils." This is a step in the direction of closed party lists, which are a really bad idea. However, I guess since the candidate submits his own list, there is less of a problem with a party's central office controlling the process. The question then becomes how someone becomes a candidate in the first place. I am not so sure giving a boost to candiates who convince alot of other candidates to place them 2nd is a good idea. This promotes an "insider" effect. You are probably right that it would be an easier sell than updating voting infrastructure and also, it means that anyone can easily check the results which is not possible in most ranked elections. It would need to be made clear that improving efficiency by implementing party list system is not a natural next step. ___________________________________________________ Try the New Netscape Mail Today! Virtually Spam-Free | More Storage | Import Your Contact List http://mail.netscape.com ---- election-methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info