WHY THE MAJORITY CAN'T STOP
A BAD CANDIDATE FROM WINNING

Plurality Voting System:

• The candidate who is unlike other candidates gets all of his votes.
• Each of many candidates with the same beliefs gets only part of the vote for that belief.

  This effect is called vote splitting.

• The candidate most different from the others usually wins.
• The candidate similar to other candidates usually loses.
• A majority wanting the most-different candidate to lose can't vote to stop that candidate from winning.

Other Voting Systems:

• With the Approval Voting System:

   A majority wanting the most-different candidate to lose can't stop that candidate from winning without voting for all other candidates.

• With the Instant Runoff System:

   A majority wanting the most-different candidate to lose can't stop that candidate without everyone choosing the same other candidate as first choice vote.

• With all ranking systems:

   A majority wanting the most-different candidate to lose can't stop that candidate without everyone choosing the same other candidate as first choice vote.

• With the Range Voting Systems:

   A majority wanting the most-different candidate to lose can't stop that candidate from winning without everyone giving all other candidates the highest score.

• With the other systems with a runoff:

   A majority wanting the most-different candidate to lose can stop that candidate from winning in the runoff.

• With the Independent Voting System:

   A majority can stop that candidate from winning by voting NO on that candidate. This is the normal voting method requiring no concerted effort.

How can we get rid of this unstoppable candidate problem?

• There is only one way:
• Allow the voter to vote his real preference without restraints and make those preferences count equally.

There is only one way to make this happen:

• Voting on one candidate must not be interlocked with the voting on other candidates.

How can this be achieved?

• Two things must be done:
  1. The Plurality Voting System (vote for only one) and all other biased voting systems must be permanently abolished.
  2. The Independent Voting System (vote on each choice separately) must be adopted into law.
  3. Straight-party voting must be totally abolished. It is unfair.

1. The voter has 3 choices for each candidate: YES, NO, and ABSTAIN.
2. The default if the voter does nothing is always ABSTAIN.
3. On a lever machine, a three position control is used for each candidate (at right).
4. Each paper ballot candidate has YES and NO check boxes.
5. Checking neither or both check boxes is ABSTAIN.
6. Computer ballots, like paper ballots, would have YES and NO buttons for each candidate.
7. There is no interlocking of votes between candidates.
8. The voter can vote for as many candidates as he wants.
9. The voter can vote against as many candidates as he wants.
10. The voter can abstain on as many candidates as he wants.
11. A vote against a candidate has the same weight as a vote for that candidate has.
12. Each candidate's score is his YES votes minus his NO votes.
13. The candidate with the highest positive score wins.

With the Plurality Voting System, a vote with no YES vote for an office is not counted at all.

With the Independent Voting System, all votes except ABSTAIN votes are counted:

1. Voting NO for one candidate does not mean that the voter must vote YES for another.
2. Any voter can vote any way he wants. No combination of votes disqualifies the ballot.
3. No candidate gains any YES votes because one candidate gets more NO votes.
4. The voter does not have to vote against one candidate to vote for another candidate.
5. No vote splitting takes place.

Thus, the Independent Voting System prevents vote splitting.

The trick of running a stooge candidate with a platform similar to another candidate's platform to split that candidate's vote does not work.