Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!mcvax!ukc!etive!hwcs!nick
From: nick@cs.hw.ac.uk (Nick Taylor)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: Electoral Systems (Was: Who Controls the Network?)
Message-ID: <2111@brahma.cs.hw.ac.uk>
Date: 5 Jan 89 10:33:34 GMT
Reply-To: nick@cs.hw.ac.uk (Nick Taylor)
Organization: Computer Science, Heriot-Watt U., Scotland
Lines: 37

Sorry, but I don't get any of the talk.* groups and I have this irrepressible
urge to remove some of the confusion which seems to exist with regard to
electoral systems.

Australian Rules is the Alternative Vote system. It is not STV (the Single
Transferable Vote). STV is not appropriate when only one candidate is to be
elected because it boils down to the Alternative Vote (AV) system under these
circumstances. STV is based on the idea of multi-member constituencies and
attempts to reflect the percentage of the vote for a party in the percentage
of seats which they gain. With only one seat up for grabs it is identical to
the AV system.

The French system works well in France because, after the first round of
voting, the parties normally negotiate to ensure that only two candidates
stand in the second round. They can do this because French politics boils
down to a Left-Right battle (Ie. a two-horse race). Mind you it is quite
conceivable that the cause and effect might be the other way round.

Personally, I don't see why STV could not be used to elect the Electoral
College in US Presidential elections. It seems absurd that ALL of the votes
cast by a state in the Electoral College should go to ONE candidate when it
would be a very simple matter to distribute them to the candidates in the
same proportions as the popular vote. But why mess about with an Electoral
College anyway? Why not use the popular vote?

I like the NOTA idea but I doubt that many voters would bother to go to the
trouble of turning up to vote for it. I thought that it was possible for a 
voter to add a candidate of his/her own choice to the ballot paper in US
elections anyway. Am I wrong?

Yours,

*
 Old/Saint Nick

* Delete as applicable!

                        GIVE TEXAS BACK TO MEXICO !