Difference between revisions of "Condorcet Voting"

Revision as of 18:30, 24 June 2011

In one sentence, Condorcet Voting means that candidate who most people prefer to the other candidates wins. In another sentence, the winner is the candidate who would defeat all of the alternative candidates in a one on one election. While the basic idea is quite simple, figuring out who the Condorcet winner is, and deciding who the winner is if there is no single Condorcet winner is not obvious. Taijitu has adopted Condorcet Voting in the past, but later abandoned it in favor of Instant Runoff Voting.

Theory

How to Vote

Voting in a Condorcet election is a tiny bit more complicated than voting in a plurality vote election, but exactly the same as in any other preferential system such as Instant Runoff Voting.

In a plurality election, one in theory simply votes for one's favorite candidate and the candidate with the most votes wins. However, because supporters of candidates who are believed to "have no chance" can still prefer one of the "mainstream" candidates to the other, they end up voting for someone who is not their favorite at all, based on who they guess "has a chance".

In a Condorcet election, you simply write down candidates in the order you prefer them. For example, Green voters in Florida in 2000 might vote:

1. Nader
2. Gore

or

1. Nader
2. Gore
3. Bush

While Buchanan voters might vote:

1. Buchanan
2. Bush
3. Gore
4. Nader

How to Count

History