In Search Of Voting Utopia
We've already read about San Francisco trying to modify its district election system- that system being similar to the True Ward system some are proposing for Eureka. Now we have some prior candidates for office filing suit over The City's Instant Runoff Voting system because it only allows voters to rank the top 3 candidates.
Not sure what to think of this as it might just be another case of a glass half empty or half full. Might it be true that someone ranked fifth by some voters might be able to win if five choices were allowed? I'm not sure, but I suspect they could.
I would think that three choices would be more than enough. I don't know that I would even cast a vote for some candidates if they were fifth in line with me. I might just well vote for the top one or two candidates or maybe just the one I most prefer and leave the other boxes blank. If the candidate is a flake, why bother ranking him as fourth or fifth?
I wonder how many others in the The City are voting the way I would?
Labels: elections, instant runoff voting
posted by Fred Mangels @ 7:43 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Fred,I could be mistaken,and I will look into it further when I get a minute,but the reason that voters may only be able to select 3 is because of the software they use to tally the results.
San Fran has three rankings because of its voting equipment and will allow more if new equipment can do so. As you say, voters aren't complaining, and the results are fairer than one-round plurality or two-round runoffs. This lawsuit isn't going anywhere, I'm sure.
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