At 04:11 PM 7/31/2007, Juho wrote: >I'm still wondering if you felt that D was the rightful >winner in the basic example where sincere opinions were 1000 A>B, >1000 C>D, 1 D>B (or 1000 A>B>C=D, 1000 C>D>A=B, 1 D>B>A=B).
I'm not getting into the main discussion here, but wanted to answer the question implied. There is no rightful winner in the situation described. There is only a rightful winner, properly, when a majority have expressed consent to that choice. We often infer this from votes, but, here, there is no adequate information, so I'd consider this a failed election. Both A and C fell short of a majority, and D>B does not indicate acceptance of D, but only rejection of B in comparison. I would resolve it by assigning 1000 votes to A, 1000 votes to C, 1 vote to D, and putting them in a room and not giving them food or water until they agree. If they could not agree within necessary time limits, I'd hold the election again. I'd be tempted to disqualify A and C, but.... they did have 1000 supporters each. And the new election would be plurality with the two candidates. Just joking about the food and water part. Sort of. ---- Election-Methods mailing list - see http://electorama.com/em for list info
