[extropy-chat] POL: Gerrymandering and Geometry: A Tiling Problem?

[Mike Lorrey]

--- Robin Hanson <rhanson at gmu.edu> wrote:
> 
> Yes, pretty much any of them is better than the current system. 
> Once we pick a rule, we don't need to change it again for a long
> time, and we avoid  the incumbency advantage that now exists.

Well, you only avoid it for the next election.

> Another related technical solution is approval voting.  This is where
> you can vote for as many or as few candidates as you want, and the
> person with the most votes wins.  This nicely lets you vote for
> people who have a low chance of winning, without having to worry
> about "throwing away your vote."  Since it would give third parties
> a better chance, it is opposed by the main two parties.

Well, we used this, the Condorcet's Method, in the FSP election, which
resulted in 95%+ of the members being happy with the results, so I must
say that this is a good method to use, at least in terms of allowing
most voters to feel like they had a real voice.

Another method that can be used is multi-seat districts. Here in NH,
these became far more widespread when the State Supreme Court
redistricted after the parties couldn't agree in 2002. If you live in a
four seat district, you get four votes. In many cases we've found that
the two parties can't seem to get enough people for all four slots (or
whaterver number there are in the district) on their ballots and this
allows third party candidates to get written in or petitioned into the
ballot as 'fusion' candidates. 59 candidates in the last State House
election got elected as fusion candidates.

=====
Mike Lorrey
"Live Free or Die, Death is not the Worst of Evils."
                                       - Gen. John Stark
"Fascists are objectively pro-pacifist..."
                                       - Mike Lorrey
Do not label me, I am an ism of one...
Sado-Mikeyism: http://mikeysoft.zblogger.com

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