Election Methods: Review of Alternatives and Oregon Proposals

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Election Methods Review of Alternatives and
Oregon Proposals
League of Women Voters of Oregon Education Fund
September 2008
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Election Systems Criteria

• Factors to consider
• Ensure majority rule
• Encourage minority representation
• Encourage fair gender representation
• Produce fair and accurate representation of
  diverse political views in legislatures.

http//www.freakingnews.com/Mob-Pics-13155.asp
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Election Systems Criteria

• Increase voter participation
• Encourage geographic representation
• Encourage sincere voting as opposed to
  strategic voting
• Maximize opportunities for effective votes and
  reduce the spoiler effect

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Election Systems Criteria

• Provide a reasonable range of voter choice
• Prevent fraud and political manipulation
• Encourage competitive election
• Be easy to use and administer

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Nonpartisan Versus Partisan Elections


Nonpartisan PRO? CON?
Oregon Considerations
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Single Seat Methods
Unranked methods
Ranked methods
Borda
Majority Methods
Plurality
Approval
Condorcet
Range
Open/Top Two
Instant Runoff Voting
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Unranked Election Methods
Plurality
Approval Voting Voters can vote for more than
one candidate and whoever gets the most votes
wins.
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Unranked Election Methods

• Range Voting
• Bad Poor Fair Good Great
• Ruth Rendell 1 2 3 4 5
• Rex Stout 1 2 3 4 5
• Sue Grafton 1 2 3 4 5
• John Grisham 1 2 3 4 5

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Ranked Methods

• Voters rank candidates
• Rankings are converted to points-Borda
• Preferential paired candidates - Condorcet

http//www.therussianshop.com/russhop/matryoshkas/
political.htm
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Primaries

• Closed Primaries
• Open Primaries
• Blanket Primary
• Oregons Measure 65 in the 2008 General Election

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Primaries

• Closed Primaries
• - voter registration includes party declaration
• - only major party registrants can vote that
  partys nomination to general election

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Primaries

• Open Primaries
• - typically no party declaration when
  registering to vote
• - voter chooses party in which to vote for
  nomination to the general election
• - no crossover voting allowed

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Primaries

• Blanket Primary
• - all voters receive the same ballot
• - still selecting major party nominees to
  general election
• - crossover voting is allowed
• - has been found unconstitutional

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Primaries

• Oregons Measure 65
• - partisan primaries no longer used to elect
  major party nominees to general election
• - all voters receive the same ballot
• - all candidates including minor parties and
  NAVs appear on primary ballot
• - only top two go on to general election

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Instant Runoff Voting
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Transfer Process in IRV
Winning candidate Christie
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Fusion Voting
__ John Grisham Democrat __ Stephen King
Republican __ Anne Rice Socialist __ Sue
Grafton Libertarian __ John Grisham Green
Party
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Multiple Seat Election Methods
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Election Administration Considerations

• Software upgrades
• Voter education
• Ballot design
• Longer ballots
• Vote-by-mail system

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National Popular Vote

• Concerns about the Electoral College
• Interstate Compact

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