Category: Voting Systems

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A New Democratic Count

Two new Democrats have entered the race — Michael Bloomberg and Deval Patrick. And several have left. I need to reset the database again.

But before I do, here is the count between now and the last reset. In this count there has been a flood of traffic from Daily Kos. It appears that the Kossacks really like Elizabeth Warren. (I wonder if they read her book promoting stay-at-home motherhood…)

Plurality Vote Count

Plurality vote totals:

CandidateNumber of Votes
Michael Bennet0
Joe Biden4
Cory Booker2
Steve Bullock0
Pete Buttigieg9
Julian Castro1
John Delaney0
Tulsi Gabbard4
Kamala Harris4
Amy Klobuchar1
Wayne Messam0
Beto O’Rourke1
Tim Ryan0
Bernie Sanders11
Joe Sestak0
Tom Steyer0
Elizabeth Warren32
Marianne Williamson0
Andrew Yang6
TOTAL:75

The winner is Elizabeth Warren with 42.7% of the vote

Approval Vote Count

Approval vote totals:

CandidateNumber of Votes
Michael Bennet7
Joe Biden29
Cory Booker36
Steve Bullock3
Pete Buttigieg33
Julian Castro32
John Delaney3
Tulsi Gabbard15
Kamala Harris37
Amy Klobuchar24
Wayne Messam1
Beto O’Rourke18
Tim Ryan0
Bernie Sanders42
Joe Sestak3
Tom Steyer6
Elizabeth Warren55
Marianne Williamson8
Andrew Yang21
Ballots Cast:75

The winner is Elizabeth Warren with 73.3% of the vote

Range Count

CandidateNumber of Stars
Michael Bennet148
Joe Biden320
Cory Booker329
Steve Bullock127
Pete Buttigieg385
Julian Castro322
John Delaney101
Tulsi Gabbard146
Kamala Harris372
Amy Klobuchar292
Wayne Messam70
Beto O’Rourke282
Tim Ryan97
Bernie Sanders468
Joe Sestak85
Tom Steyer138
Elizabeth Warren562
Marianne Williamson114
Andrew Yang288

And the winner is: Elizabeth Warren

Instant Runoff (Ranked Choice) Counts

Instant Runoff required 6 rounds:

Round 1:

Michael Bennet0
Joe Biden3
Cory Booker2
Steve Bullock0
Pete Buttigieg9
Julian Castro1
John Delaney0
Tulsi Gabbard3
Kamala Harris4
Amy Klobuchar1
Wayne Messam0
Beto O’Rourke2
Tim Ryan0
Bernie Sanders13
Joe Sestak0
Tom Steyer1
Elizabeth Warren29
Marianne Williamson0
Andrew Yang7

Eliminated in this round:

  • Michael Bennet
  • Steve Bullock
  • John Delaney
  • Wayne Messam
  • Tim Ryan
  • Joe Sestak
  • Marianne Williamson
  • Julian Castro
  • Amy Klobuchar
  • Tom Steyer

Round 2:

Joe Biden3
Cory Booker2
Pete Buttigieg9
Tulsi Gabbard3
Kamala Harris5
Beto O’Rourke2
Bernie Sanders13
Elizabeth Warren31
Andrew Yang7

Eliminated in this round:

  • Cory Booker
  • Beto O’Rourke

Round 3:

Joe Biden4
Pete Buttigieg9
Tulsi Gabbard3
Kamala Harris7
Bernie Sanders13
Elizabeth Warren32
Andrew Yang7

Tulsi Gabbard eliminated in this round.

Round 4:

Joe Biden4
Pete Buttigieg9
Kamala Harris7
Bernie Sanders16
Elizabeth Warren32
Andrew Yang7

Joe Biden eliminated in this round.

Round 5:

Pete Buttigieg10
Kamala Harris7
Bernie Sanders16
Elizabeth Warren35
Andrew Yang7

Eliminated in this round:

  • Kamala Harris
  • Andrew Yang

Round 6:

Pete Buttigieg13
Bernie Sanders20
Elizabeth Warren42

And the winner is: Elizabeth Warren

Range with Runoff Count

First Round:

For the first round, we count just as in Range Voting, but we are interested in the top two candidates. If there is a tie for second place in this round, then we take the top candidate and all second place candidates to the second round.

CandidateNumber of Stars
Michael Bennet153
Joe Biden318
Cory Booker339
Steve Bullock130
Pete Buttigieg394
Julian Castro336
John Delaney97
Tulsi Gabbard147
Kamala Harris386
Amy Klobuchar289
Wayne Messam71
Beto O’Rourke282
Tim Ryan99
Bernie Sanders470
Joe Sestak88
Tom Steyer140
Elizabeth Warren568
Marianne Williamson119
Andrew Yang296

The following candidates make it to Round 2:

  • Elizabeth Warren
  • Bernie Sanders

Second Round:

Here are the vote counts for the second round. A candidate gets a vote if he/she has the highest number of stars in the truncated ballot. If multiple candidates get the same, highest, star count, then multiple candidates get a vote. In this sense, the second round is somewhere between Plurality and Approval.

CandidateVotes
Elizabeth Warren54
Bernie Sanders30

And the winner is: Elizabeth Warren

Posted on

Republican Count for Test Poll

We have a couple new entrants to the Republican race. Also, having too many people on the ballot makes people annoyed. So I am about to redo the database, adding the new entrants and eliminating many of the candidates from 2016. (I’ll keep some of the leading candidates form 2016 to give the Never Trumpers options.)

Anyway, here are the results from before my intended database purge:

Plurality vote totals:

CandidateNumber of Votes
Donald Trump21
Bill Weld2
John Kasich1
Ted Cruz2
Marco Rubio2
Ben Carson3
Jeb Bush0
Jim Gilmore0
Carly Fiorina0
Chris Christie0
Rand Paul5
Rick Santorum0
Mike Huckabee1
George Pataki0
Lindsey Graham0
Bobby Jindal0
Scott Walker0
Rick Perry1
TOTAL:38

The winner is Donald Trump with 55.263157894737% of the vote

Approval Vote Count

Approval vote totals:

CandidateNumber of Votes
Donald Trump28
Bill Weld4
John Kasich5
Ted Cruz23
Marco Rubio6
Ben Carson13
Jeb Bush8
Jim Gilmore0
Carly Fiorina1
Chris Christie5
Rand Paul12
Rick Santorum5
Mike Huckabee5
George Pataki1
Lindsey Graham3
Bobby Jindal4
Scott Walker7
Rick Perry14
Ballots Cast:38

The winner is Donald Trump with 73.684210526316% of the vote

Range Count

CandidateNumber of Stars
Donald Trump259
Bill Weld120
John Kasich139
Ted Cruz219
Marco Rubio141
Ben Carson183
Jeb Bush149
Jim Gilmore96
Carly Fiorina95
Chris Christie97
Rand Paul185
Rick Santorum107
Mike Huckabee140
George Pataki97
Lindsey Graham107
Bobby Jindal130
Scott Walker141
Rick Perry191

And the winner is: Donald Trump

Instant Runoff (Ranked Choice) Counts

Instant Runoff required 1 rounds:

Round 1:

Donald Trump21
Bill Weld3
John Kasich1
Ted Cruz0
Marco Rubio4
Ben Carson3
Jeb Bush0
Jim Gilmore0
Carly Fiorina1
Chris Christie0
Rand Paul4
Rick Santorum0
Mike Huckabee1
George Pataki0
Lindsey Graham0
Bobby Jindal0
Scott Walker0
Rick Perry0

And the winner is: Donald Trump

Range with Runoff Count

First Round:

For the first round, we count just as in Range Voting, but we are interested in the top two candidates. If there is a tie for second place in this round, then we take the top candidate and all second place candidates to the second round.

CandidateNumber of Stars
Donald Trump259
Bill Weld118
John Kasich139
Ted Cruz216
Marco Rubio146
Ben Carson191
Jeb Bush146
Jim Gilmore99
Carly Fiorina94
Chris Christie96
Rand Paul184
Rick Santorum108
Mike Huckabee138
George Pataki96
Lindsey Graham102
Bobby Jindal132
Scott Walker139
Rick Perry186

The following candidates make it to Round 2:

  • Donald Trump
  • Ted Cruz

Second Round:

Here are the vote counts for the second round. A candidate gets a vote if he/she has the highest number of stars in the truncated ballot. If multiple candidates get the same, highest, star count, then multiple candidates get a vote. In this sense, the second round is somewhere between Plurality and Approval.

CandidateVotes
Donald Trump27
Ted Cruz16

And the winner is: Donald Trump

Posted on

Democratic Count for Test Poll

The field is narrowing and people are complaining about the sizes of the ballots. So I am getting ready to weed down the database and restart the count. But before doing so, here are the results on the Democratic side as of Oct. 24, 2019:

Plurality vote totals:

CandidateNumber of Votes
Michael Bennet1
Joe Biden3
Cory Booker0
Steve Bullock1
Pete Buttigieg2
Julian Castro2
Bill de Blasio0
John Delaney1
Tulsi Gabbard7
Kirsten Gillibrand0
Kamala Harris3
Jay Inslee1
Amy Klobuchar1
Wayne Messam0
Seth Moulton0
Beto O’Rourke6
Tim Ryan0
Bernie Sanders16
Joe Sestak0
Tom Steyer0
Elizabeth Warren10
Marianne Williamson0
Andrew Yang12
TOTAL:66

The winner is Bernie Sanders with 24.242424242424% of the vote

Approval Vote Count

Approval vote totals:

CandidateNumber of Votes
Michael Bennet5
Joe Biden16
Cory Booker11
Steve Bullock6
Pete Buttigieg16
Julian Castro10
Bill de Blasio4
John Delaney5
Tulsi Gabbard12
Kirsten Gillibrand6
Kamala Harris11
Jay Inslee8
Amy Klobuchar10
Wayne Messam3
Seth Moulton3
Beto O’Rourke18
Tim Ryan4
Bernie Sanders33
Joe Sestak3
Tom Steyer2
Elizabeth Warren23
Marianne Williamson6
Andrew Yang18
Ballots Cast:66

The winner is Bernie Sanders with 50% of the vote

Range Count

CandidateNumber of Stars
Michael Bennet159
Joe Biden227
Cory Booker247
Steve Bullock163
Pete Buttigieg280
Julian Castro238
Bill de Blasio143
John Delaney139
Tulsi Gabbard287
Kirsten Gillibrand177
Kamala Harris225
Jay Inslee219
Amy Klobuchar206
Wayne Messam106
Seth Moulton100
Beto O’Rourke246
Tim Ryan136
Bernie Sanders415
Joe Sestak106
Tom Steyer128
Elizabeth Warren351
Marianne Williamson172
Andrew Yang327

And the winner is: Bernie Sanders

Instant Runoff (Ranked Choice) Counts

Instant Runoff required 9 rounds:

Round 1:

Michael Bennet0
Joe Biden2
Cory Booker1
Steve Bullock1
Pete Buttigieg3
Julian Castro2
Bill de Blasio1
John Delaney1
Tulsi Gabbard7
Kirsten Gillibrand0
Kamala Harris3
Jay Inslee1
Amy Klobuchar1
Wayne Messam0
Seth Moulton0
Beto O’Rourke6
Tim Ryan0
Bernie Sanders14
Joe Sestak1
Tom Steyer1
Elizabeth Warren9
Marianne Williamson0
Andrew Yang12

Eliminated in this round:

  • Michael Bennet
  • Kirsten Gillibrand
  • Wayne Messam
  • Seth Moulton
  • Tim Ryan
  • Marianne Williamson
  • Cory Booker
  • Steve Bullock
  • Bill de Blasio
  • John Delaney
  • Jay Inslee
  • Amy Klobuchar
  • Joe Sestak
  • Tom Steyer

Round 2:

Joe Biden3
Pete Buttigieg4
Julian Castro2
Tulsi Gabbard7
Kamala Harris3
Beto O’Rourke7
Bernie Sanders18
Elizabeth Warren10
Andrew Yang12

Julian Castro eliminated in this round.

Round 3:

Joe Biden3
Pete Buttigieg4
Tulsi Gabbard7
Kamala Harris4
Beto O’Rourke7
Bernie Sanders19
Elizabeth Warren10
Andrew Yang12

Joe Biden eliminated in this round.

Round 4:

Pete Buttigieg5
Tulsi Gabbard8
Kamala Harris4
Beto O’Rourke8
Bernie Sanders19
Elizabeth Warren10
Andrew Yang12

Kamala Harris eliminated in this round.

Round 5:

Pete Buttigieg5
Tulsi Gabbard9
Beto O’Rourke8
Bernie Sanders19
Elizabeth Warren12
Andrew Yang13

Pete Buttigieg eliminated in this round.

Round 6:

Tulsi Gabbard10
Beto O’Rourke8
Bernie Sanders20
Elizabeth Warren14
Andrew Yang14

Beto O’Rourke eliminated in this round.

Round 7:

Tulsi Gabbard11
Bernie Sanders24
Elizabeth Warren17
Andrew Yang14

Tulsi Gabbard eliminated in this round.

Round 8:

Bernie Sanders29
Elizabeth Warren18
Andrew Yang19

Elizabeth Warren eliminated in this round.

Round 9:

Bernie Sanders43
Andrew Yang23

And the winner is: Bernie Sanders

Range with Runoff Count

First Round:

For the first round, we count just as in Range Voting, but we are interested in the top two candidates. If there is a tie for second place in this round, then we take the top candidate and all second place candidates to the second round.

CandidateNumber of Stars
Michael Bennet156
Joe Biden228
Cory Booker240
Steve Bullock163
Pete Buttigieg275
Julian Castro242
Bill de Blasio160
John Delaney140
Tulsi Gabbard287
Kirsten Gillibrand179
Kamala Harris227
Jay Inslee225
Amy Klobuchar203
Wayne Messam105
Seth Moulton98
Beto O’Rourke249
Tim Ryan135
Bernie Sanders412
Joe Sestak105
Tom Steyer127
Elizabeth Warren351
Marianne Williamson172
Andrew Yang328

The following candidates make it to Round 2:

  • Bernie Sanders
  • Elizabeth Warren

Second Round:

Here are the vote counts for the second round. A candidate gets a vote if he/she has the highest number of stars in the truncated ballot. If multiple candidates get the same, highest, star count, then multiple candidates get a vote. In this sense, the second round is somewhere between Plurality and Approval.

CandidateVotes
Bernie Sanders47
Elizabeth Warren39

And the winner is: Bernie Sanders

Hopefully with a narrower field, more people will complete the poll.

Posted on

Primary 2020: A Voting System Experiment

Our election system is broken! Plurality-Take-All voting Does Not Work when you have more than one candidate on the ballot. Remember when Ralph Nader “stole” enough votes from Al Gore so that we ended up with George W. Bush? Remember when H. Ross Perot gave us Bill Clinton?

“Fine,” some of you might say. “Just stick to our Two-Party System.”

Even that doesn’t work. Both parties have more than two candidates to choose between during the primaries. As I write this, the Democrats are considering over 20.

There is a better way. Scratch that. There are several better ways: several different voting systems that allow voters to better express their preferences when there are more than two candidates to consider. Better options include: Approval Voting, Instant Runoff, Condorcet Voting, Range Voting, and Star Voting.

But which of these are the best?

To help answer this question, I have created a new poll: a simulation of the primary phase of the 2020 U.S. Presidential election. In it, you get to experience voting using all of the above systems, and we will get to see how the voting system affects the results after enough people participate.

I have made primary simulations for the Democratic, Libertarian, and Republican primaries. To make the Republican primary simulation interesting, I have added candidates from the 2016 contest. (Otherwise, we would only have Donald Trump and Bill Weld. With two contestants, Plurality Voting works just fine.)

Please participate, and then tell your friends, acquaintances, students, teachers, etc. Our current system produces winners who make half the country extremely unhappy every four years. A better system would give us uniters instead of dividers.

A better system would also let us safely choose between more than two parties. We might see some reasonable third parties arise: greenish conservatism, pro life welfare statism, budget realism, etc.

After taking the poll, feel free to comment below. Which system do you prefer? What features should I add? Are there any bugs?