Abstract
The mathematics of any voting procedure is key and, in consensus voting, these rules of the count help to ensure that the outcome is indeed accurate and fair. Firstly, voters are enabled to cast as many preferences as they wish; secondly, the mathematics encourages everybody to complete a full list of preferences; and thirdly, all preferences cast by all voters are taken into account. Combine these mathematical factors with the fact that all participants or their representatives are able to formulate the options, and the result is an inclusive and accurate methodology. In fact, the consequences of this more sophisticated procedure are several, but this chapter looks only at the numerical logic.
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Notes
- 1.
In 2016, the British Premier David Cameron decided to have a referendum on the question, ‘The UK in the EU, yes or no?’.
- 2.
In his earlier referendum in 2011, the choice was between his 1st preference and his 2nd; so he was no less dictatorial. He chose just two of hundreds of electoral systems—and there’s more on those in Chap. 7.
- 3.
As implied in the current author’s press release issued four months before the wretched poll, there could easily have been three or more options ranging from ‘remain in the eu’ at one end to ‘under the World Trade Organisation, wto’ at the other.
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Emerson, P. (2021). The A-B-C-D of Voting. In: Democratic Decision-making. SpringerBriefs in Political Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52808-9_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52808-9_3
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