Primary Elections using a "Top 2/Single Transferable Voting Method"
For more information on the STV method see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_transferable_vote My objective was to find a method that would: 1. Narrow the field of candidates in the General Election to a reasonable number. 2. Follow the US Supreme Courts ruling that only Party member can select their Parties Candidate (the free association principle). 3. Allow the maximum flexibility by voters (subject to 2 above). 4. No vote is wasted. (See sample ballots below) Counting Rules in finding the Top 2/STV (or Top 3+) General Election Candidates: 1. Add all of the individual candidates votes ranked number 1 (and transferred votes in later rounds). 2. Allocate all of the Party (Group) votes, ranked number 1 (and transferred Party votes in later rounds), to the candidates in that Party (Group) in proportion of the votes receive under step 1 above. 3. If any candidate who has reached or exceeded the required Droop quota (33.4% - "Top 2", 25.1% with "Top 3") they will be included in the General Election. 4. If a candidate has more votes than the quota, then their votes are transferred to other candidates according to each voter's allocated preferences. 5. If not enough candidates have been selected, the count continues. 6. The candidate with the fewest votes is then eliminated and their votes are transferred to remaining candidates (or Parties) according to voters' preferences. This process repeats from step 1 until the required number of candidates has been selected for the General Election. Please give me your comments: Don Hoffard Sample Ballots: Democratic Party Ballot (Registered Democrat Party members only) (Rank your Candidates and Groups (Parties) from 1 to 8 Democratic Party [ ] - Hillary Clinton [ ] - Barack Obama [ ] - John Edwards [ ] - Bill Richardson [ ] - Green Party (Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney) [ ] - Republican Party (Mitt Romney, Rudy Giulinai, John McCain, Fred Thompson) [ ] - Libertarian Party (Christine Smith, Ron Paul) [ ] - Nonaffiliated (Joe Lieberman) Republican Party Ballot (Registered Republican Party members only): (Rank your Candidates and Groups (Parties) from 1 to 8 Republican Party [ ] - Mitt Romney [ ] - Rudy Giulinai [ ]- John McCain [ ] - Fred Thompson [ ] - Democratic Party (Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson) [ ] - Green Party (Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney) [ ] - Libertarian Party (Christine Smith, Ron Paul) [ ] - Nonaffiliated (Joe Lieberman) Green Party Ballot (Registered Green Party members only): (Rank your Candidates and Groups (Parties) from 1 to 6 Green Party [ ] - Ralph Nader [ ] - Cynthia McKinney [ ] - Republican Party (Mitt Romney, Rudy Giulinai, John McCain, Fred Thompson) [ ] - Democratic Party (Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson) [ ] - Libertarian Party (Christine Smith, Ron Paul) [ ] - Nonaffiliated (Joe Lieberman) Libertarian Party Ballot (Registered Libertarian Party members only): (Rank your Candidates and Groups (Parties) from 1 to 6 Libertarian Party [ ] - Christine Smith [ ] - Ron Paul) [ ] - Democratic Party (Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson) [ ] - Republican Party (Mitt Romney, Rudy Giulinai, John McCain, Fred Thompson) [ ] - Green Party (Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney) [ ] - Nonaffiliated (Joe Lieberman) Nonaffiliated Ballot (Those not affiliated with a Party Only): (Rank your Candidates and Groups (Parties) from 1 to 5 Nonaffiliated [ ] - Joe Lieberman [ ] - Democratic Party (Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards, Bill Richardson) [ ] - Republican Party (Mitt Romney, Rudy Giulinai, John McCain, Fred Thompson) [ ] - Green Party (Ralph Nader, Cynthia McKinney) [ ] - Libertarian Party (Christine Smith, Ron Paul)
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