Questions tagged [voting-systems]

For questions about rule systems for scoring votes. Not for questions about country-specific rules or practices but for the theory and practice of voting systems. Examples include proportional-representation and first-past-the-post.

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Best ranking method for 1-X voters and N candidates [closed]

Situation I must rank N options (N = 54 here, but could be lower or higher) according to X voters (X = 1 here, though I am also interested on the X = 2 case, as well as a more general case). Goal ...
GregoirePelegrin's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
305 views

Congressional vs. Party Votes: Secrets & Differences

In the domain of voting methodologies, what moral, ethical, and procedural distinctions arise when comparing secret ballots in congressional votes and party votes? Why do the principles and rationales ...
The 'Bernie Sanders' Party's user avatar
5 votes
5 answers
423 views

Where does First Past The Post voting favour left wing parties?

Today's UK by-elections are set to demonstrate the effect of spoiler candidates on a First Past The Post ballot. In the UK it is pretty clear that First Past The Post (FPTP) benefits the right-wing ...
Jontia's user avatar
  • 23.9k
2 votes
1 answer
137 views

Gerrymandering, Efficiency Gap Formula [closed]

I have a problem in which I have two parties. Party 1 is Purple. Party 2 is Yellow. There are a total of 135 votes. Purple has 75 of them while yellow has 60. There are 9 districts total. Each ...
Ayaan's user avatar
  • 21
13 votes
3 answers
3k views

In countries using Single Transferable Vote, how are voting results presented?

In electoral systems based on parties, it is easy to publish the results: it is sufficient to publish the number of votes each party received. These numbers contain all the information that is needed ...
Erel Segal-Halevi's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
403 views

Why the US does not have strong local parties except in Puerto Rico?

Often as a cause of two-party system in the US cited the first-past-the-post system. (see also Duverger's Law). But theoretically this should not prevent having strong local state-level parties. It ...
Anixx's user avatar
  • 10k
3 votes
1 answer
205 views

What is the maximum number of seats possible in the Bundestag?

As we know, the German Bundestag uses a mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system, with constituency votes that are majoritarian (299 seats) and party votes that are proportional (299 seats), ...
Marco Pastor Mayo's user avatar
4 votes
4 answers
293 views

What is an example of a political process in which every person’s vote amounts to something?

One of the most common grievances against elections is that it doesn’t matter if you vote because it won’t make a difference how the world is or significantly sway the outcome of an election. What is ...
Julius H.'s user avatar
  • 2,091
2 votes
3 answers
265 views

What is the significance of the non-dictatorship principle in Arrow's theorem, and does this example fit the definition of a dictator? [duplicate]

Arrow's non-dictatorship principle states that "no single voter possesses the power to always determine the group's preference." I am unsure if I am missing some nuance from this definition, ...
Ahmed's user avatar
  • 29
14 votes
4 answers
3k views

Which electoral systems minimise the extent to which political parties control who gets elected?

Political parties are, obviously, very important in democratic systems. Most candidates will be selected by a party. But many systems make it easy for the party to control which specific members end ...
matt_black's user avatar
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15 votes
6 answers
2k views

What if no party crosses the electoral threshold in a parliamentary election?

In some countries, there is an electoral threshold that political parties must cross to win seats in the parliament. For example, in Germany, the threshold is 5% of national votes, in Sweden the ...
QuantumWalnut's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
198 views

Which voting system criterion requires that changing your preference order of some candidates won't affect whether other candidates are elected?

Consider an election in which one voter's preference order was Alice > Bob > Carol. If she were to change her preference order to Carol > Alice > Bob, there are 9 possibilities as to what ...
Joseph Sible-Reinstate Monica's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
236 views

Why does it have to be 50-50 in Germany's Bundestag [duplicate]

In Germany's Bundestag, 299 seats are for proportional representation and the other 299 are for regional representation in a first-past-the-post system. Is it just a coincidence that the seats are ...
Underwood's user avatar
  • 187
8 votes
6 answers
2k views

How do party-list systems accommodate independent candidates?

I'm curious if there are countries that use party-list system while also allowing independent candidates to run? Logistically, what would the implementation look like? Do the independent candidates ...
QuantumWalnut's user avatar
-5 votes
2 answers
155 views

How prevalent is AI in electoral counting in different countries, or why is it not more prevalent?

How prevalent is AI in electoral counting in different countries, or why is it not more prevalent ? I see an ideal electoral counting system as one using both AI and human counters At each human ...
infomtn's user avatar
  • 467
18 votes
5 answers
3k views

Ranked voting by a committee when some members cannot vote for a particular candidate because of a conflict of interest

I'm in a 12-person committee where we have to rank 5 candidates whom we have interviewed for a position. Some members of the committee have a conflict of interest, so they had to leave the room when a ...
Carlo Beenakker's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
734 views

Did the 2022 Alaska congressional special election have a Condorcet winner, who was not elected?

Does anyone know if Begich may have been the Condorcet winner? Nic Tideman emailed me a few days ago, asking me this question. I sure as hell do not know unless we can get the records of the ...
robert bristow-johnson's user avatar
-5 votes
3 answers
341 views

Would ranked choice voting force single issue voters to vote for more than one candidate or not be counted? [closed]

I am running for Senate in NJ in 2024 and I believe my voting bloc is merely a plural majority of all eligible voters but maybe not a majority (and probably not current voters, btw). If this is the ...
Nick Carducci for Carface Bank's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
334 views

Difference between RCV and STV

My question is about de difference between RCV and STV. If I am correct they are both voting systems where you are selecting multiple candidates and where the candidate with the lowest amount of votes ...
user avatar
9 votes
6 answers
459 views

Polarization and electoral systems

Posted this question on Reddit. I am crossposting it here as well: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskSocialScience/comments/vpnviu/polarization_and_electoral_systems/ Is there research linking polarization ...
amrods's user avatar
  • 191
1 vote
0 answers
46 views

In open-list systems, how do individual candidates promote themselves while being a team player?

In open-list systems, political candidates are expected to promote their party platform while simultaneously advocate for a personal mandate so they can rise higher on the list. This might create a ...
QuantumWalnut's user avatar
-8 votes
2 answers
258 views

What is the point in having a democracy if it is unable to elect the smartest people? [closed]

Check this answer: https://politics.stackexchange.com/a/11185/32479 The government is supposed to be representative of its people. If the people are a bunch of idiots then the government should ...
user366312's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
241 views

Ranked choice voting: Can a candidate who got dropped in early round come back in later rounds?

Location: Any country or state that uses RCV. One that has used it for a while and worked out the kinks would be preferable. Edit for clarity: I am talking about the “instant runoff” kind of RCV in a ...
Damila's user avatar
  • 2,657
-3 votes
5 answers
445 views

What are the possible solutions for a "stupid people in large numbers" situation in a democracy? [closed]

Context It's said that "Democracy counts the heads but doesn't weigh the brains". I think there's a book with that title but I didn't read it. So, what if the less intelligent people ...
ShivCK's user avatar
  • 405
4 votes
1 answer
207 views

Is there a ranked voting variant that prevents vote selling and identification?

As acknowledged also on Wikipedia, one of the drawbacks of ranked choice voting is that "it is likely that many preference voting patterns will be unique to individual voters, which could allow ...
Federico Poloni's user avatar
26 votes
8 answers
5k views

What are the disadvantages to 2-round elections where the top candidates from the first round compete head-to-head in the second round?

This is the election system in France and Ukraine. In the first round anyone can run. If no candidate wins an absolute majority, then the top two candidates go to a second round where they face off ...
Allure's user avatar
  • 32.4k
5 votes
1 answer
129 views

What happens when Webster's method can't narrow down to a working divisor?

I've been poking around and without trying, managed to bump into some scenarios where Webster's method gives inconclusive results. The fact I managed it more than once without trying implies to me ...
Hussein Duvigneau's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
474 views

Weighted voting in the UN

Is any voting in the UN ever weighted against the population, contribution or consequences? I understand that some countries have a better footing due to historical reasons. However, just to name some ...
Quora Feans's user avatar
  • 2,319
2 votes
1 answer
218 views

Has anyone published a plan for how to modernize the American voting system? [closed]

It’s been said that the American voting system is a relic of the past, with idiosyncratic features due to political negotiations and compromises at the time it was formed. Let’s say in a modern ...
Julius H.'s user avatar
  • 2,091
2 votes
0 answers
52 views

Condorcet loser criterion implying majority loser criterion [closed]

I know that it is perfectly clear that Condorcet loser criterion implies majority criterion. However, I am looking for a citable source that states this. Can anyone suggest something? Thanks!
Newbie010's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
176 views

Do Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Germany and Austria disallow the official registration of electoral alliances (instead of their constituent parties)?

It seems to me that minimum election thresholds in Bulgaria, Slovenia, Czechia, Poland, Latvia, and Israel function to reduce risk of political gridlock due to fragmentation (which can compound ...
Tom's user avatar
  • 121
1 vote
2 answers
193 views

Are there election systems where voters cast a vote on the final composition of the legislature, rather than individual parties or candidates?

As an example, Germany is well known for having the problem of forming a coalition due to a large number of parties being elected to their legislative body. I imagine this can be frustrating to some ...
JonathanReez's user avatar
  • 52.7k
6 votes
2 answers
287 views

Do any voting system models try to take "realistic" tactical voting into account?

In standard voting system models (see example), there are two types of voters: honest voters who always choose their preferred candidate(s) and tactical voters who try to maximize the expected weight ...
JonathanReez's user avatar
  • 52.7k
8 votes
1 answer
322 views

What would it take to change the voting in the UK away from "first past the post"?

Question from a naive US citizen here: In a podcast from the BBC I heard it claimed that there are districts with a Tory representative elected with 1000 votes when the other parties (combined) had ...
Kieran Mullen's user avatar
8 votes
6 answers
592 views

Plurality voting: Advantages?

Context: I'm a 1st time voter in a plurality voting state. As part of deciding how I'm going to vote, I'm trying to know what is the intention of a state choosing plurality vote (I'm assuming they all ...
BCLC's user avatar
  • 603
3 votes
1 answer
219 views

Is there a version of IRV where eliminated candidates may come back if they gain enough votes?

In 2009 the Burlington mayoral election failed to elect the Condorcet winner while using IRV. Looking at the results table, there seems to be two simple modifications that could've changed the outcome:...
JonathanReez's user avatar
  • 52.7k
2 votes
1 answer
157 views

Does Meek STV Incentivise Strategic Voting?

I have recently looked at the explanation of the Meek Single Transferable Vote method of elections, and it seems like it's a rather multi-step algorithm. Now, a major reason for STV systems seems to ...
vicky_molokh's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
192 views

UK alternative electoral system design

Background: I am seeking an alternative UK electoral system that would have multi-member constituencies instead of single member, which would create multi-party (proportional) governments. ...
Jonathan's user avatar
  • 131
7 votes
0 answers
148 views

Is this variant of STV used anywhere else?

In the rules of a political party in my (U.S.) state, a procedure for intra-party elections in which multiple positions are to be filled is described which is clearly a variant of the single ...
C. M. Sperberg-McQueen's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
150 views

Any active wikidemocracy projects post-2019?

I have been reading about this form of electronic democracy called wikidemocracy. The article on wikipedia talks about attempts to implement Wikidemocracy in 2011, but it doesn't mention any modern ...
Tyler Mc's user avatar
  • 6,264
1 vote
1 answer
107 views

What would be the political effects of the implementation of a Bhutan-like electoral system on a federal state? [closed]

Bhutan has a unique political system, in which elections to the National Assembly ( the lower house of the bicameral Bhutanese parliament ) happen in two rounds. In the first round, a nationwide vote ...
JERRY_XLII's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
193 views

Assigning fractional seats in a parliament

In proportional party-list voting systems, each party is entitled to a fraction of the seats in proportion to its vote count. This fraction is always rounded up or down according to some rule of "...
Erel Segal-Halevi's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
325 views

Can this paradox happen in single transferable vote?

Suppose we conduct a single transferable vote election and everyone has given their ranked preference of candidates. If we use these votes to elect three candidates, we get candidates A, B, and C. If ...
eyeballfrog's user avatar
  • 1,803
3 votes
2 answers
142 views

Is there a country where people votes don't equal one another based on their personal circumstances?

Sorry if this question is a bit harsh, but I am looking for any country (past or current) who implemented a system where people don't just have 1 equal vote each, a vote/point system that is based on ...
Mocas's user avatar
  • 5,865
6 votes
0 answers
124 views

Has an electoral ceiling ever been implemented or proposed?

The concept of electoral threshold is well established. What about the upper limit though? I mean a reduction of possible party/block power grasp to say 40% and transferring power to smaller players. ...
user avatar
-4 votes
1 answer
92 views

What are the best choices of voting systems for a relatively small number of voters [closed]

Ranked choice with 4-5 options doesn't really seem to work / can be easily gamed with 4-5 voters. What options give the best way to ensuring more people are happy with the result?
Jacob Denson's user avatar
14 votes
2 answers
585 views

Who is the Condorcet winner of NYC's 2021 mayoral Democratic primary?

The 2021 mayoral primary in New York City was done using Instant Runoff Voting ("Ranked Choice Voting"). This system does not necessarily elect the Condorcet winner, if one exists. (The ...
endolith's user avatar
  • 3,514
4 votes
1 answer
158 views

Why is tactical voting considered important given it seems to require such detailed information? [duplicate]

When voting systems are evaluated, tactical voting is considered a problem. I agree to the extent that an average voter has enough information to successfully tactically vote. For example, in a FPTP ...
Bug Catcher Nakata's user avatar
25 votes
8 answers
6k views

Why does ranked-choice voting give such high preference to the second choice of the least-favored candidate's voters?

Ranked choice voting is in the news lately because of the big mess New York City has made of implementing it in its Democratic primaries for the mayoral race. But in the talk about how it works, one ...
Mason Wheeler's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
507 views

New York's ranked choice voting, dealing with "a tie at the bottom"

I guess I have understood the mechanism of ranked choice voting, except for one detail: what happens if two candidates have exactly the same least number of first choices and the same exact numbers of ...
gboffi's user avatar
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