ITHACA, N.Y. — A group of local residents are trying to change how elections are decided in the city of Ithaca. Tom Clavel and Patrick Sewell, two leaders of the […]
The right use of ranked ballots is a Condorcet method like Ranked Pairs, because it works the way people already think ranked ballots work. Whoever wins is who it “shoulda been” in any 1v1 race. Most importantly, dishonesty is self-defeating, outside of absurd circumstances where your second-favorite candidate is neck-and-neck with the fucking devil. And even then, attempting strategery will usually get you the fucking devil. Do not put the fucking devil above any candidates you actually kinda like. It’s exactly as stupid as it sounds.
The right stopgap is Approval, where you just check all the names you like. Same ballots as now. Most votes wins. It’s genuinely that simple, it gets Condorcet results somehow, and there’s no good reason we’re not doing it everywhere.
The right use of ranked ballots is a Condorcet method like Ranked Pairs, because it works the way people already think ranked ballots work. Whoever wins is who it “shoulda been” in any 1v1 race. Most importantly, dishonesty is self-defeating, outside of absurd circumstances where your second-favorite candidate is neck-and-neck with the fucking devil. And even then, attempting strategery will usually get you the fucking devil. Do not put the fucking devil above any candidates you actually kinda like. It’s exactly as stupid as it sounds.
The right stopgap is Approval, where you just check all the names you like. Same ballots as now. Most votes wins. It’s genuinely that simple, it gets Condorcet results somehow, and there’s no good reason we’re not doing it everywhere.