06.29.08
New book applies game theory to vote counting methods
In his new book, Gaming the Vote, author William Poundstone applies an area of mathematics called game theory to various alternatives to the current winner-takes-all method of counting the vote. This provides a useful perspective that is far different from the rhetorical chest-pounding about “increased democracy”, or “more choices for the voter” that usually accompanies discussions of IRV, STV or other variants of ranked choice voting.
In a review of Gaming the Vote, Berylium Sphere writes on Technocrat http://technocrat.net/d/2008/6/28/44675
…the book talks about the nature, the history, and especially the malfunctions of alternatives such as instant runoff voting, approval voting, Condorcet voting and Borda voting. It covers the (often incandescent) theoretical debates about whether the problems of each are significant in real life, in enough detail to be accurate but while remaining clear to a non-specialist. He explains the theorem that all ranking-based voting systems have paradoxes (the Arrow Impossibility Theorem). Most of the alternatives, except for approval voting and the system Poundstone saves for the end as the best choice, involve letting the voter rank all the candidates in order of preference. Read the rest of this entry »
06.25.08
Sen. Nelson (FL) introduces One Person, One Vote Initiative
Senator Bill Nelson’s attempt at comprehensive reform, S.J.Res. 39, was just introduced in the U.S. Senate. Because it is so late in the cycle the bill has little chance of passing before the new Congress is sworn in next January. The “One Person, One Vote Initiative” contains some intriguing elements, including a proposed Constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College.
Any constitutional amendment faces an uphill battle because of the need for passage by a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress followed by adoption by three-fourths of the 50 states (Article V). Not likely to happen very quickly.
For those in need of a refresher about why the Electoral College was created by the Framers, it should be said that those who designed our Constitutional system never envisioned that the President would be elected by popular vote. They planned to have state legislatures select the members of the Electoral College who would in turn gather to vote for President and Vice-President. Read the rest of this entry »
06.19.08
‘I was working for the Sith lords:’ fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias
Because he refused to prosecute bogus “voter fraud” cases in New Mexico, U.S. Attorney David Iglesias was fired by the Bush Administration. A dyed-in-wool Republican, Iglesias was disillusioned by the politization of the DOJ under John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales.
In a recent appearance on Comedy Central’s Daily Show with Jon Stewart Iglesias won audience applause by referencing characters in Star Wars movies:
“I thought I was working with the Jedi Knights and I was working for the Sith Lords.”
The video is from Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, broadcast June 16, 2008. Find it here: http://rawstory.com/news08/2008/06/17/fired-us-attorney-i-was-working-for-the-sith-lords/
06.04.08
The GOP war on (Democrats) voting
As previously noted on this blog, the Republican party has a long history of voter suppression, dating back at least as far as William Rehnquist’s activities in Arizona, long before he ascended to the U.S. Supreme Court. We have chronicled the effort by the Bush administration to foist Hans von Spakovsky on the Federal Election commission, an effort that, fortunately for American democracy, has come to an inglorious end with von Spakovsky’s withdrawal from consideration for the post.
One of the recent GOP tactics has been to push for legislation requiring voters to show ID in order to vote. To listen to many Republicans the greatest danger to the country is voter fraud, i.e., folks casting ballots they are not entitled to. Most often the boogie man is the specter of illegal aliens voting but no proof is ever offered. Read the rest of this entry »
