Danny wrote:
Imran and I have discussed this. It seems that most
people who have
spoken out are opposed to First Past the Post as our voting system. We
selected this because it seemed the easiest for everyone to understand
and implement, and with the understanding that there will be
opposition. In fact, I believe that no matter what voting system is
chosen, there will be opposition to it.
On the other hand, we are willing to consider other methods. Imran
will be posting on this later. Without having a huge vote on how we
should vote, I would like to invite people on this list to propose
alternative methods. I will also pose this same question to the
candidates themselves.
Simplicity was a much stronger argument when we were talking about doing
the vote on a meta page. Now I'm writing custom voting software. I don't
mind which voting method you choose, I'm sure I'll be able to code it
before the end of the month.
Condorcet's method has some nice mathematical properties, but does have
the significant criticism that it is prone to electing incompetent
candidates merely because they are in the middle of the political
spectrum. Critics of IRV point out that changes in preferences can have
unexpected results. Although I'm not an expert, I have to admit a
preference towards IRV.
For people who think there is no strategic voting in Condorcet's method,
have a look at:
http://condorcet.org/rp/strategy.shtml
I have to admit that the use of the FPTP method factored strongly in my
decision not to stand, since I didn't want to steal votes from those
candidates most similar to myself.
-- Tim Starling