Hendrick Hertzberg, chief political correspondent to The New Yorker, takes Vermont Governor Jim Douglas to task here, over Douglas’ veto of the bill that would have instituted Instant Runoff Voting for Vermont congressional general elections. Thanks to Rick Hasen’s ElectionLawBlog for the link.
Hertzberg, sadly, has a mixed record of support for issues that are important to us 3rd party folks. His parents were devout Norman Thomas Socialists, but he has vociferously criticized Ralph Nader for running for president outside the two major parties.
P.S. – The correct spelling of his name is Hendrik Hertzberg. Also, he isn’t just a regular contributor to The New Yorker, he’s their chief political correspondent. He’s also a former editor of The New Republic. Over the years he has been a forceful advocate of instant runoff voting, proportional representation, and abolition of the electoral college, but he seems to feel that 3rd party candidates shouldn’t be acting as “spoilers” until those reforms see the light of day.
thank you
Perhaps the Guv had some math brains about IRV for single offices ?
Times are ROUGH and TOUGH — like 1860, 1932, 2000 or 2004.
The *middle* is very divided.
34 H W S
33 S W H
16 W H S
16 W S H
99
Place Votes Table
1 2 3
H 34 16 49 99
S 33 16 50 99
W 32 67 0 99
99 99 99
With IRV, W loses. H beats S 50-49.
Head to head (Condorcet method) —
W beats H 65-34
W beats S 66-33
W WINS.
IF the first 2 place votes are *YES* votes (as in Approval Voting), then —
H 50
S 49
W 99
W WINS
IF the Bucklin Method is used (add place votes to get a majority), then adding the place 1 and place 2 votes —
H 50
S 49
W 99
W WINS
H Hitler, S Stalin, W George Washington (American General in the 1775-1783 American Revolution and the first U.S.A. President)
IRV is super-dangerous since it ignores most of the data in a place votes table — regardless of the New Age mindless math MORONS hyping IRV in various places — especially for executive / judicial offices.
IRV WILL nominate / elect HITLER / STALIN TYPE extremists — who will claim a mighty IRV majority *mandate* for their EVIL stuff — while defeating compromise candidates — especially for offices like President, Governor, mayor, etc.
———
ALL voting methods have problems with 3 or more choices — which is why plurality has been around for centuries. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_system
Example — divided majority
26 A B Z
25 B A Z
49 Z ? ?
With pre-election polling —
Will the Z voters change their first and/or second choice votes ?
Will A and B continue to support each other ?
“Over the years he has been a forceful advocate of instant runoff voting, proportional representation, and abolition of the electoral college, but he seems to feel that 3rd party candidates shouldn’t be acting as “spoilers†until those reforms see the light of day.”
The reason why statewide IRV made it this far is the Progressive Party of Vermont. Electoral reform is unlikely to see the light of day without strong third parties.
For some reason my original response to this thread is still “awaiting moderation”……here it is:
Hertzberg, sadly, has a mixed record of support for issues that are important to us 3rd party folks. His parents were devout Norman Thomas Socialists, but he has vociferously criticized Ralph Nader for running for president outside the two major parties.