The vote is not a single purpose tool.

[Charles Fiterman]

At 06:09 PM 10/1/98 -0700, you wrote:
>
>Millions of voters, including virtually all of the ones I've
>spoken with, say that their goal in voting isn't to vote for
>someone, it's to vote against someone.
>So, though they like Nader best, they vote for Clinton, because
>that's a more effective vote against Dole. _Vote Against_.

I agree, maybe ranked preference should be counted backwards
eliminating the person with the most 4's first etc. This way
instead of electing the most liked we elect the least hated.

I no longer vote against people, I only vote for people and
if there is no one to vote for I leave it blank. The vote
is not a single purpose tool it affects your self respect.
People who vote dishonestly often end up non voters. Voting
for minor parties affects their chances in future elections
and the prestige of their issues.

So an important issue in choosing these methods is that the
vote be fully counted. Minor parties need to know how well
they did no matter how badly that is.






Charles Fiterman Geodesic Systems
414 North Orleans Suite 410 Phone 312 832 1221 x223
Chicago IL 60610-4418 FAX 312 832 1230
http://www.geodesic.com

As the complexity of a system increases our ability to make
precise and yet significant statements about its behavior
diminishes until a threshold is reached beyond which precision
and significance or relevance become almost mutually exclusive
characteristics. -- Lofti Zadeh