I've been claiming that one of the key differences between MPV and Condorcet is that MPV still has a significant spoiler dilemma which will deter good candidates from competing, while Condorcet would remove the main force which keeps the two "big tent" parties from splintering over ideological differences. According to our Australian colleagues, empirical data there show that MPV usually elects candidates who would beat all the others pairwise, and there is some evidence that voters in Australia by and large vote their sincere preferences when they rank the candidates. I'd appreciate more info if it's available. I'd like to know what percentage of the first choices go to the top two candidates in each district (an average, and maybe the standard deviation). Is there some place online I can look that up? I'd also like to know how and why parties nominate only one candidate per office, if that's the normal practice. ---Steve (Steve Eppley [EMAIL PROTECTED])
