Mathematicians: Elections Flawed

Nader-licious writes "Science News Online reports: 'With recent reports of malfunctioning voter machines and uncounted votes during primaries in Florida, Maryland, and elsewhere, reformers are once again clamoring for extensive changes. But while attention is focused on these familiar irregularities, a much more serious problem is being neglected: the fundamental flaws of the voting procedure itself. Mathematics are shedding light on questions about how well different voting procedures capture the will of the voters.' The verdict: the U.S. system might be the worst of the lot."

FP! that was easy

[WhiteChocolate42]

US the worst? You don't need math to figure that out, you just need to look at the results.

Voting What the founders intended

[linuxislandsucks]

Do not forget that the foudner sof this country never intedned the common man or women to choose our president..

Thats why we have delegates to pick president instead of popular vote..

The founders felt that the common man or wome was to stupid to effectively pick a president of a country..

and the funny part is that they are right..when was the last time the common man and women of this country rejected what media and lobbyists tell us and vote with our minds and hearts? Not in the past 50 yearsd has this happened..

Hmmm. Especially when the Florida ballot...

[Anonymous Coward]

...reads: (a)Jeb Bush (b) the incumbent and (c) the President's brother as your three choices on the ballot!

Re:Hmmm. Especially when the Florida ballot...

[ninthwave]

so news I found that I haven't heard confirmed from the states can someone comment on if they have heard of this.

The Article [guardian.co.uk] from The Guardian [guardian.co.uk]

I don't think it is off topic and is relevant to the elction discussion in general but if you think it OT let me know or ignore the post.

and in other news

[hype7]

philosophers have discovered that life isn't fair.

-- james

I'm shocked!

[cascadingstylesheet]

The verdict: the U.S. system might be the worst of the lot.

Shocking! And here I clicked on a Slashdot story thinking I would find that the US was the best of the lot! This is so unexpected!!

;)

Re:and in other news

[KFury]

First they would have to define "fair".

And vote on the proposed definitions.

The math is off...

[BlueGecko]

Guys, take a look at a quote like this:

Saari has calculated that in three-candidate elections, depending on the voting system, more than two-thirds of all possible configurations of voters' preferences will yield different outcomes.

Now, think about this for a second. There are three candidates, and therefore three possible outcomes, and Saari has calculated (are you braced properly for this?) that not only are all three wins possible, but no matter who you pick, there is a better chance that either of the other two will win. Damn is that a lose-lose situation.

Is it just me, or do other people get a bit jittery when they read quotes like this in an article in mathematics? That quote is in the first half painfully obvious and in the second half just wrong, and it's the simplest math in the article, so how should I know that the more advanced math isn't equally as screwy?

Re:"Don't complain about your lack of options..."

[Paul Komarek]

Hey! Don't make fun of our system! I'll have you know we've got the best politicians that money can buy!

-Paul Komarek

Re:FP! that was easy

[Alsee]

Saddam's... won with 100% of the vote

Early returns were reporting Saddam with only 28% in favor, but then voting irregularities were discovered. It turns out that the results were tainted with a great number of votes from persons who were actually deceased. Once these votes were removed the final tally was 100% in favor.

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