[geeks] just to stir things up, a few predictions

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

Wed, 27 Oct 2004 @ 19:53 -0400, Phil Stracchino said:

> On Wed, Oct 27, 2004 at 06:44:26PM -0400, Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:
> > You case a primary vote, and then you can case a yes/no approval
> > vote for each candidate.
> > 
> > For example, suppose the republican voters split between republican and
> > libertarian (which actually happens a lot).  They would cast approval
> > for republican and libertarian, but not democrat.
> > 
> > That way of the democrat wins popular vote, but doesn't get the approval
> > vote, he cannot take office.  At this point there are various methods
> > which can be used to break the tie.  Many countries already do something
> > like this and it seems to work pretty well, though it doesn't often
> > require voting twice.
> 
> I can't imagine this working in the US.  The vast majority of voters
> would still vote a straight party ticket with *both* votes, 

No, it's one vote per candidate.  If they don't vote outside their party
then they only vote once.

> and god
> forbid they should cast an approval vote for anyone BUT their party.
> The average American voter has become very attached to his tunnel
> vision.

But that is the whole point of the proposed system.  It allows them to
continue as they were, and allows those who want to vote outside of
party lines to do so without the current risk.

In other words, you can try to elect someone else without effectively
voting for someone you do not want in office.

Many times the winning candidate is disliked by the majority, and it's
because the voting system doesn't allow you to show what you want.

-- 
shannon "AT" widomaker.com -- ["Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny." --
Unknown]