The Voting System That Should Replace Every Election

CGP Grey · 4.7M views · 2011 · 4:27

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US politics & electionsProbability & game theoryexplainer

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN's go-to link whenever ranked-choice voting or voting reform comes up, because it explains the mechanics quickly and entertainingly.

What it is

A short CGP Grey explainer on the alternative vote (instant runoff voting) versus first past the post, made around the 2011 UK referendum. It shows how ranked ballots are tallied and why they avoid spoiler effects.

Recommended by 7 HN commenters across 7 different months, 2012 to 2021.

What Hacker News said

Strong rec rpmisms · 2019-10 · on “Ranked-choice voting is on the ballot in New York City”

I've been a huge fan of this system ever since CGP Grey made an excellent video on how it works and why it's great. Link: [this video]

Strong rec Timothycquinn · 2021-06 · on “What is ranked-choice voting and why is New York using it?”

GCP Gray has a great series on voting systems. Here is his one on Alternative Voting: [this video] Highly recommend his videos. Funny and informative. Also his Podcast, Hello Internet is awesome.

Recommends tokenizer · 2012-11 · on “We Need a Programmer for President”

While personally I think this is a great idea, it's nothing new. In a technocratic society; specialists rule. It wouldn't matter whether the President would be a programmer, engineer, or theorist. Any scientist would do an equally good job at re-factoring the government's inefficiencies. But sadly, a FPTP voting process means it's a popularity contest. Fix the voting system, and open up this possibility. My vote's on this: [this video]

Recommends civilian · 2015-10 · on “How I Teach Gerrymandering”

The best solution to Gerrymandering is the Alternate Vote. CGP Grey has a great video explaining it: [this video] He also has a great "what is gerrymandering" video that illustrated this same idea, but with fun animals. [LINK]

Recommends slacka · 2018-12 · on “Fake Net Neutrality Comments Draw A Federal Probe”

> Or vote for someone you actually believe in even if they are not likely to win. Maybe I'm crazy but I believe voting for the lesser of two evils No you are not crazy, you just haven't studied the game theory of voting. In our old, outdated first-past-the-post voting system voting, according to game theory you should vote for the less or 2 evils. A vote for a 3rd party that has no chance of winning is no different than not voting at all. Most people intuitively get this, which is why we are stuck with a 2 party system. There are better more democratic system like Maine's rank choice voting. There you can safely vote for your favorite candidate without worrying about the spoiler effect. If y

Recommends grifball · 2020-10 · on “Maine Becomes First State to Use Ranked-Choice Voting in a Presidential Election”

I watched the video at your link, but it wasn't very descriptive as to how the votes are actually tallied. This video does a good job of explaining RCV: [this video] Is there a similar video for STAR? I can see the problem with RCV now. It doesn't completely eliminate the spoiler effect, just makes it less likely. I understand how votes are cast in each system and they seem similar. STAR seems like RCV, but you can put multiple candidates in the same rank. I'm not sure how STAR votes are tallied, but wouldn't you be able to implement that same system with RCV? The only difference is same-ranking candidates. Is that the key to STAR's improvement? EDIT: Is it just this simple? You sum their score,

Recommends hnbad · 2021-07 · on “Beyond “Fermi’s Paradox” XVI: What Is the “Dark Forest” Hypothesis?”

> All governments are aristocracies. All states are. Not all systems of government are states. > media manipulations of wide populous The media is owned by the same "aristocracy" that controls the state. In the US and other capitalist countries the aristocracy mostly consists of billionaires and a few political "clans" (usually with ties to "old money"). In the USSR the aristocracy was the Bolshevik intelligentsia and former capitalists that formed the bureaucracy. The problem isn't inherent to humanity, it's inherent to centralized systems. The video you linked actually supports this somewhat: a ruler can't rule alone, they need a staff of advisors and delegates to carry out the ruler's ord

Cites Joakal · 2012-05 · on “Megaupload Demands Return of Millions of Dollars From U.S. Govt.”

The American electoral system is slanted towards an effective duopoly dictatorship with FPTP. Even the most brilliant political analyst will vote against their favourite candidate in favour of one the lesser of two evils that are likely to win. The only way for that favourite candidate to win is to get as much popularity possible. But with many candidates, it's really difficult. Unless, they have a huge amount of money and influence. With bi-partisan decisions such as more security over movement and Internet, American voters have no other choice. Sources: [LINK] [LINK] Is your Cat confused about the referendum on the alternative vote on the 5th May? [this video] The Alternative Vote Explained