At 05:56 AM 12/26/2008, Juho Laatu wrote:
One approach that is used in practice and
that to some extent avoids the problems of
- "few random votes to random people"
- difficulty to identify to whom the votes actually are meant
- votes to people that do not want to be candidates
- having too many candidates
is to require people to collect an agreed
number of names of supporters (and
candidate's agreement) to get their
candidate on the candidate list.
San Francisco has a write-in requirement that candidates must be
registered for the vote to be counted. That's not a bad idea in
write-in situations, and the registration should be possible up to
the day of the election. I'd consider the idea that it could be post-facto.
And that if the non-candidate who wins wishes to do so, that
candidate may reassign the votes, effectively choosing a replacement
for himself or herself. Doesn't want the responsibility? Sorry. This
person has been offered the power, and can use it or not. It's a
variation on TANSTAAFL. We cannot avoid sins of omission by refusing
to accept responsibility, the responsibility comes from being alive
and having the power to act.
However, for very good practical reasons, preregistration is a good
idea. It should be cheap or even free. I disagree with petition
requirements, they make sense only if the name is to appear on the
ballot. There is no harm to the process from solitary registration.
And there *could* be harm from signing a petition. It is,
effectively, a non-secret vote for the candidate.
We forget that some of the protections of secret ballot aren't
necessary most of the time. We have them for the rare exceptions.
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