Kristofer Munsterhjelm wrote:
[snip]
What method will be used in Burlington now -- Plurality or runoff?
Since you said 40% earlier, I guess it's a runoff, but 40% sounds odd
as a runoff threshold. Shouldn't it be majority? Anything less and the
voters might have preferred someone else.
The argument for 40% as opposed to 50% comes from political scientists
and is practical rather than conceptual. Essentially it is that a
plurality winner who gets 40% is extremely unlikely to lose a runoff
against the second-place candidate, so that the runoff isn't worth the
additional expense (to the candidates and voters as well as the
government). A refinement on this is the "double complement rule",
described here:
http://fruitsandvotes.com/?p=546
I'm not supporting either the double complement rule or the 40%
threshold. I'm just reporting what I know about the rationale.
--
Bob Richard
Executive Vice President
Californians for Electoral Reform
PO Box 235
Kentfield, CA 94914-0235
http://www.cfer.org
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