Kathy Dopp wrote:
People on this list seem to still be sending around their incorrect or
incomplete formulas for the number of possible rank orders for rank
order ballots. This number BTW does *not* correspond to the number of
piles needed to count IRV which is a lesser number but does correspond
to the only method of making IRV precinct-summable.
For precinct summability, whether or not you include both "A>B" and
"A>B>C" votes as distinct (in a three-candidate election) doesn't really
matter because the factorial term dominates and so one can broadly say:
- When one formula says it's practical to send raw ballot counts around,
it's practical to do it by any of the other formulas
- When not practical for one, it's not practical for the others either.
Of course, when verifying the outcomes, you'd want to have the exact
number right, but it seems to me that the question of whether the method
can be feasibly summed in precincts by transmitting raw counts ("how
many voted this order, how many voted that order") does not depend on
the exact nature of the formula, because they all grow so quickly.
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