[Foundation-l] First Past the Post

Wed May 12 07:09:45 UTC 2004

Danny wrote:

> Imran and I have discussed this. It seems that most people who have 
> spoken out are opposed to First Past the Post as our voting system. We 
> selected this because it seemed the easiest for everyone to understand 
> and implement, and with the understanding that there will be 
> opposition. In fact, I believe that no matter what voting system is 
> chosen, there will be opposition to it.
>  
> On the other hand, we are willing to consider other methods. Imran 
> will be posting on this later. Without having a huge vote on how we 
> should vote, I would like to invite people on this list to propose 
> alternative methods. I will also pose this same question to the 
> candidates themselves.
>
Simplicity was a much stronger argument when we were talking about doing 
the vote on a meta page. Now I'm writing custom voting software. I don't 
mind which voting method you choose, I'm sure I'll be able to code it 
before the end of the month.

Condorcet's method has some nice mathematical properties, but does have 
the significant criticism that it is prone to electing incompetent 
candidates merely because they are in the middle of the political 
spectrum. Critics of IRV point out that changes in preferences can have 
unexpected results. Although I'm not an expert, I have to admit a 
preference towards IRV.

For people who think there is no strategic voting in Condorcet's method, 
have a look at:

http://condorcet.org/rp/strategy.shtml

I have to admit that the use of the FPTP method factored strongly in my 
decision not to stand, since I didn't want to steal votes from those 
candidates most similar to myself.

-- Tim Starling