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Hi folks,
This is a preliminary recommendation from the folks examining
voting methods. I am not sure we can use this for the coming election
as the primary method, given the wording of the constitution. I am
likely to use the vote machinery already in place, and compute the
winner by the new, recommended method as well, but barring a
constitutional amendment, the previous voting method is still going
to be the final word.
Call this election the test period for the new voting methods.
manoj
ps: I am in the process of researching the algorithm, since to an
uninitiated layperson like me, terms like "weakest defeat" need
definition; anyone forwarding algorithms/psuedocode shall earn my
gratification.
Mike> "Mike" == MIKE OSSIPOFF <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Mike> The constitution revision committee arrived at a concrete recommendation
Mike> for the count rule, for counting the rankings and choosing a winner:
Mike> We voted to recommend Cloneproof SSD. It's equivalent to another
Mike> procedure that is known sometimes as BeatpathWinner and sometimes
Mike> as Schulze's method. But we choose Cloneproof SSD as the procedure
Mike> to recommend, the rank-count rule to recommend.
Mike> Let me briefly state the definition of Cloneproof SSD:
Mike> First, a definition of the Schwartz set:
Mike> 1. An unbeaten set is a set of alternatives none of which are
Mike> beaten by anything outside that set.
Mike> 2. An innermost unbeaten set is an unbeaten set that doesn't contain
Mike> a smaller unbeaten set.
Mike> 3. The Schwartz set is the set of alternatives that are in
Mike> innermost unbeaten sets.
Mike> [end of definition]
Mike> Of course, if there are no pairwise ties, then there will only
Mike> be one innermost unbeaten set, but small committee voting can
Mike> sometimes result in pairwise ties, and so the definition allows
Mike> for the existence of more than one innermost unbeaten set.
Mike> Cloneproof SSD:
Mike> 1. Calculate the Schwartz set based only on undropped defeats.
Mike> 2. If there are no defeats among the members of that set, then
Mike> the count is over, and the members of that set are the winners.
Mike> 3. Otherwise, drop the weakest defeat among the candidates of that
Mike> set, and go to 1.
Mike> [end of definition]
Mike> Cloneproof SSD (CSSD) meets all the criteria that our committee
Mike> consider important, including the Condorcet Criterion, the Smith
Mike> Criterion, Monotonicity, Independence from Clones, and a number
Mike> of strategy criteria that measure for the important goal of avoiding
Mike> a lesser-of-2-evils problem.
Mike> Most of these criteria can be found at http://www.electionmethods.org
Mike> At the "technical evaluation" page, there's a criterion compliance
Mike> table that compares SSD to some other commonly proposed voting
Mike> systems.
Mike> Independence from Clones requires that a faction not gain or
Mike> lose advantage by running a number of identical candidates. Of
Mike> course our committee used a more precisely worded definition of
Mike> the Independence from Clones Criterion (ICC).
Mike> Another criterion met by CSSD, and which we consider important is
Mike> the Schwartz Criterion, which requires that the winner come from
Mike> the initial Schwartz set.
Mike> Unfortunately, we didn't make any progress on the other issues, and
Mike> discussion slowed down & stopped when we moved on to the next
Mike> constitution revision issue. But we definitely made an official
Mike> decision, based on a vote, for the issue of what method should be
Mike> used to count the ranked ballots in elections: We chose Cloneproof
Mike> SSD.
Mike> I should add that, though the algorithm that I've just sent tonight
Mike> speaks of electing every member of the Schwartz set when there are
Mike> no defeats among the members of the Schwartz set, nearly always the
Mike> reason why there are no defeats among the members of the Schwartz
Mike> set is because the Schwartz set has only one member.
Mike> Only if there are pairwise-ties can there be more than one member
Mike> of a Schwartz set that has no defeats among its members.
Mike> Usually it's suggested that ties be solved by "Random Ballot",
Mike> but I understand that Debian solves them by Chairman Ballot--the
Mike> Debian Project Leader, or his ballot, solves the tie. That's
Mike> of course another perfectly good solution, and is more convenient
Mike> when e-mail is used, since it isn't possible for everyone to watch
Mike> a coin-flip, or a number being drawn from a bag, etc.
Mike> (In an e-mail poll, I once specified an elaborate pseudo-random
Mike> procedure for choosing a "random ballot", but there wasn't a tie).
Mike> Anyway, though we made a definite recommendation for the rank-count
Mike> method, for voting, we didn't recommend on the
Mike> supermajority issue. Discussion & progress just slowed & stopped when
Mike> we got to the supermajority issue.
Mike> But the rank-count issue isn't dependent on
Mike> the supermajority issue, and so our rank-count recommendation could
Mike> be implemented even though we haven't voted on the other issues.
Mike> Let me know if there are any questions or comments.
Mike> Mike Ossipoff
- --
"Remember kids, if there's a loaded gun in the room, be sure that
you're the one holding it" Captain Combat
Manoj Srivastava <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <http://www.debian.org/%7Esrivasta/>
1024R/C7261095 print CB D9 F4 12 68 07 E4 05 CC 2D 27 12 1D F5 E8 6E
1024D/BF24424C print 4966 F272 D093 B493 410B 924B 21BA DABB BF24 424C
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