Math and Voting

No politics here, just mathematics: One of the surprising aspects of voting that we learn from mathematics is that the outcome of an election may more accurately reflect the voting method rather than the voters' wishes. To illustrate this phenomenon, we provide you with the opportunity to vote from among an arbitrary set of presidential candidates from the two major parties (who were in the race when our balloting began) using three different methods. Method 1 is the traditional voting system, in which you simply select a candidate. Just one candidate, no more. In method 2, you vote for all of the candidates you would consider acceptable, as many or as few as you wish. In method 3, you rank the candidates from most preferred to least, and points are assigned accordingly (utilizing the Borda count).

After you vote, you will see the status of this "election" up through and including your vote. If the "winner" is different using one or more methods, don't be surprised. Instead, take a look at the theme essays.

Thank you for participating.

Method #1:

Please select your top candidate.

Hillary Clinton   Barack Obama

John Edwards   Dennis Kucinich

Rudy Giuliani   Mike Huckabee

John McCain   Mitt Romney

Method #2:

Please select all candidates that you believe would be acceptable as president.

Hillary Clinton   Barack Obama

John Edwards   Dennis Kucinich

Rudy Giuliani   Mike Huckabee

John McCain   Mitt Romney

Method #3

Please rank the candidates from 1 to 8, with 1 being the most desirable, and 8 being the least desirable.

Hillary Clinton   Barack Obama

John Edwards   Dennis Kucinich

Rudy Giuliani   Mike Huckabee

John McCain   Mitt Romney