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@bmjacobs OK, I think I get that. But I still don't think the graph is correct - it's giving a different measurement for a deterministic and non-deterministic systems. For non-deterministic methods, it seems to be working on the probability of getting elected, which I presume is what the "controlled winning probability" on the y axis means. But for the deterministic methods, it just gives a score of 100 if they are guaranteed to be elected and 0 otherwise.

If it's a about guaranteed election then the non-deterministic methods should give 0 across the board. If it's probabilistic, then the non-deterministic methods are correct on the graph but the deterministic ones are wrong - though there isn't an exact probability you can give as it depends on voting patterns.

@bmjacobs Interesting article, but a couple of things. Where does it come from that in Borda you need 2/3 of the vote to ensure a win? Also Borda and winner-takes-all systems wouldn't have the step function if there are more than two candidates. E.g. having 40% of the vote under First Past the Post will still give you the win in many elections. If it's to guarantee the win then yes, but I don't think it's clear that that's what the graph is trying to say.

@mkeypaige A lot of those topics have Wikipedia or Electowiki pages, which describe them quite well, and there are also YouTube videos which discuss a lot of them. Some of the later stuff I wouldn't even know what they are. But I'll give you some links.

Ranked voting - Wikipedia

1. Plurality system (also known as First Past the Post) - Wikipedia, CGP Grey video

2. Ranked Choice Voting (also known as Instant Runoff Voting, Alternative Vote among others): Wikipedia, CGP Grey video

3. Condorcet methods: Wikipedia, Carneades.org video

4. Borda Count: Wikipedia, Carneades.org video

5. Majority criterion: Wikipedia, Becky Moening video

6. Unanimity criterion: Wikipedia article on Pareto Efficiency, Eric Pacuit video

7. Condorcet winner criterion: Wikipedia, Carneades.org video

8. Monotonicity criterion: Electowiki article, Becky Moening video

9. IIA (Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives) criterion: Wikipedia, Carneades.org video

10. Manipulability: Wikipedia article on strategic voting, Katherine Heller video

11. Random dictator: Wikipedia article, Carneades.org video

12. Approval voting: Wikipedia, CGP Grey video

That's the first section covered. Let me know if this is useful at all and I can get some links for the others.

@jack-waugh I think anything except the minimum for unmarked candidates makes it too easy to mark bullet burials. But I don’t know.

@masiarek this may be slightly tangential, but another consideration for the future is making sure any encryption in voting systems is also quantum secure.

Youtube Video

@wolftune IRV wasn’t largely in the public consciousness of the USA until groups like FairVote started promoting it in the 1990s. It took a decade for acknowledgment of the system to grow, and by then it had subsumed the name “ranked choice.” So it wasn’t as if people made a concerted effort to change the widely accepted name in that case. In fact, I would say more people try to reverse the name change, because it’s a presumptuous moniker that obscures other ranked choice systems.

Anyway, maybe there are examples. But I doubt whether they were efforts not in line with the mainstream or status quo.

@wolftune I agree it’s a bit of a misnomer. It’s hard to change names after history has etched them down. I started calling it “support” voting, referring to the mathematical support of a distribution. It also has less connotation than “approve.” Maybe it’ll change! But we still call “choose one” “FPTP” and “plurality” more often than “choose one.”

@jack-waugh “…more than one ‘vote’ per voter…” I always find this so silly. Nobody bothers to define what a “vote” is to begin with, so what is being counted? The correct, fair thing that, as far as I can tell, can apply universally is: one ballot per voter.

Seriously, maybe I’m a jerk, but I think we should all perhaps be reading a bit more Aristotle in public school. As required reading.

(Then again that wouldn’t serve the status quo)

@arturomacias there is a lot to unpack here. It may be more conducive for discussion if the points are separated into parallel threads.

I will just say that I strongly disagree with this assertion: “…a political system is not legitimate because of the consent of the governed, but because of the welfare of the governed. A political system [is] a mechanism that collect[s] information about preferences and facts and turn[s] them into decisions.”