Kristofer:
I'd said:
> The solution: Choose someone honest, as your proxy. That's a big difference
> from
> ordinary representation. You, and you only, choose your proxy.
>
> If you don't think anyone is honest, then don't use a proxy.
I should add: If proxy-honesty is a problem, then remember that your proxy
could be anyone--
Your best friend, your spouse, your uncle, your father or your uncle or
grandfather. Maybe
your college instructor. It could be a leader of your political party, or a
candidate
of that party, or any member of that party, etc.
You replied:
So the problem is really one of abrupt change (whether a ballot should
be public or secret)
[endquote]
No, the question of secret ballot isn't a problem. Your voter ID number is
anonymous. No one knows what person has what voter ID number. Yes, the system
knows if you designate a proxy, but it only knows that the person with that
_number_
designated a particular proxy. It doesn't know the name of the person who voted
a certain way or designated a certain other voter ID number as proxy. Of course
neither
does it know who has that number that you designate as proxy.
The ballot is entirely secret.
You continued:
You would
want a proxy with lots of power to be accountable
[endquote]
Accountable to whom? When designating the proxy, you do so because you agree
with hir,
and are willing for hir to vote for you on everything on which you don't vote.
I hadn't considered this matter before, but, in order for the system to know
how your proxy
voted, of course you must designate hir by number. But then you know the voter
I.D. number of
a voter (your proxy), so hir secret-ballot is no longer secret. But that isn't
as bad as it
might at first sound: Have you ever told anyone how you voted. Your electoral
system may have
a secret ballot, but you probably don't keep your voting or your political
opinions secret from
your best friends and relatives.
As for accountability, since it was necessary to designate your proxy by
number, and since the system
knows how each number voted, then it could be allowed for you to inquire about
how your proxy
voted on a particular issue. You don't name hir by name. You can't do that for
any voter ID number--
only one that is your proxy. Of course you don't make the inquiry under your
name, but only via
your number. Then, the vote of that proxy is posted somewhere, where you can
read it anonymously.
Anyway, your proxy may or may not have lots of power. It might just be your
spouse, who isn't anyone's
proxy but yours. And if you don't trust your political party or your candidate
enough to choose them as
your proxy, then you might want to reconsider about whether you want to vote
for that party's candidates.
You continued:
; but on the other
hand, there's also a reason we have a secret ballot so that those that
don't have much power aren't coerced or bribed to give the little power
they have to those who have power already.
[endquote]
Proxy DD has a secret ballot. No one knows what person has your voter I.D.
number. No one knows
what person has your proxy's voter I.D. number. All the system has is the voter
I.D. number of the proxy. S/he
therefore can't be bribed or blackmailed.
You continued:
Proxy democracy then implicitly values transparency at the high end
[endquote]
Yes there could transparency at the "high" end, in the sense that you can
anonymously read how a proxy
with a certain number voted on an issue, by requesting that that information be
posted.
But if that were a problem, it would ok to drop the provision for checking on a
proxy's vote. After
all, you can choose someone you trust as proxy. On the other hand, the request
for an opportunity
to anonymously read about how the proxy with a certain voter I.D. number voted
on a certain issue
doesn't seem to violate anyone's privacy. Maybe there could be a limit on how
often the request
could be granted.
You continued:
over
privacy at the low end (because it can't be otherwise, unless I'm
missing something).
[endquote]
The system would be entirely anonymous at the low end too, via the anonymous
voter
I.D. number.
You continued:
I don't know if that will be a problem in practice,
because nothing like proxy democracy has actually been tried, but this
priority in itself might be enough to get some people to think twice
before supporting it.
[endquote]
I'm not sure what problem you're referring to. The Proxy DD that I suggest
has complete anonymity for everyone, at all levels. It could also have
a provision to anonymously check, using hir voter I.D. number, on how a proxy
voted on
a particular issue. The answer to your request would be posted somewhere, where
it could
be read anonymously. Other people could read it too? So what? No one else
knows who
has that voter I.D. number.
Mike Ossipoff
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