RE: Voting System Plank in the Boulder County Democratic Platform

["Jan Kok" <kok@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Lou and others interested in alternative voting methods,

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Lou Puls [mailto:lpuls@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> 
> As I understand it, the Boulder County Democratic Party adopted a 
> plank in their proposed Platform 2004 entitled "The Voting System" 
> (under the subheading "Campaign Reform and the Media") as follows:
> 
> *    We support implementation of a system of Instant Runoff Voting
> which would ensure the election of the candidate preferred by most 
> voters, eliminate the problem of spoiler candidates knocking off major

> candidates, eliminate the need for costly separate run-off elections, 
> and promote coalition-building and more positive campaigning.

Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) is one _specific_ voting method.  However,
there are many other voting methods that have been invented, some of
which accomplish the goals listed above _better_ than IRV.  Two such
methods that I recommend are Approval Voting and Condorcet SSD.

For an excellent tutorial as well some detailed analysis of several
voting methods, see www.ElectionMethods.org.

You can sign up for the active Election Methods mailing list (not
closely related to the above web site) at www.electorama.com/em .

For discussions about implementing alternative voting methods in
Colorado, I think the most appropriate group is
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/instantrunoffco/ .  There are 43 members
of that group, probably the largest group of people interested in
alternative voting methods in Colorado.  It's not very active right now
- no one seems to be running with the ball.  It was established to
promote IRV in Colorado, however I have discussed Approval and Condorcet
there and gotten a courteous reception, so I don't think the people
there would mind if those other methods are discussed and promoted on
their list.  Sign up for http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BetterVotingCO/
while you're at it. :-)

> 
> *    We support anonymous, full-text, verifiable paper ballots being
> used in Colorado until electronic voting standards have been set by 
> the National Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers [sic] 
> (IEEE) [sic]. Standards should include open source software that can 
> be examined by any interested party, and a transparent, auditable 
> process that allows for independent verification in both counting and 
> recounts of ballots cast and counted.

[sic] indeed!  They probably meant the National Institute of Science and
Technology (NIST), which, I have heard, is interested in establishing
standards for some aspects of voting.

- Jan