Real World Event Discussions
None of the above
POSTED BY: Geezer
UPDATED: Friday, October 15, 2004 15:24
VIEWED: 2663
PAGE 2 of 2
Friday, October 15, 2004 3:24 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Geezer:
I'm bringing this thread back from the pit due to the attached article. Seems like SF is using one of the alternate voting systems we discussed. Neat.
'Ranked-Choice Voting' Debuts in Calif.
Updated: Friday, Oct. 15, 2004 - 8:23 AM
By LISA LEFF
Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - In a change that could give new meaning to direct democracy, San Franciscans will soon cast ballots listing their first, second and third-place choices for municipal offices under a new "ranked-choice voting" system that would eliminate separate run-off elections.
If no candidate secures a majority of first-place votes outright, the results will be retabulated to include the second and third picks until a winner can be declared _ a process that could take weeks.
Yeah, we have this system of voting in Northern Ireland already and I do approve of it (we call it Proportional Representation, but I've no idea why!).
Of course, I reckon a major step forward for American elections would be to actually count all the votes before declaring the winner...
I could be wrong (oh, I hope I am
) but my abiding memory of the last Presidential election was the fact that normally, the election seems to be decided by what's reported in the media from exit polls - that one candidate or the other will concede and the other one will be declared the winner, despite the fact that the votes haven't been counted yet...I know America's a big country and that's a lot of votes, but still... to declare the winner before counting them all... *shudder*
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"I think the right place to start is to say, fair is fair. This is who we are. These are our numbers." Mr Willis of Ohio - The West Wing
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