The de Borda Experiment - Vote,

jon.bright — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:11:37 +0000

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The experiment:

Phase 1: "Ideas" forum (closed) ¦ Phase 2: "Debate" forum (closed) ¦ Phase 3: "Ballot" forum (closed) ¦ Vote (closed) ¦ The results

THE CONSENSUS VOTE

The vote is closed and the experiment is now over. This page is preserved solely as a record - please do not submit any more ballots.

For the purposes of this experiment, we have two constituencies - a constituency of students of UK universities, and a constituency open to the general public. The teller for this experiment is John Baker from University College Dublin. He has created two email addresses for the vote:

If you are in the University constituency, download your ballot here, and email your completed ballot to:

---deleted---

If you are in the Public constituency, download your ballot here, and email your completed ballot to:

---deleted---

To fill in the ballot, you need to rank the options presented in your order of preference. Put a "1" next to your first preference, "2" next to your second preference, etc. Please also fill in your name and email address. Do not assign the same number to more than one option.

You will need Microsoft Excel or another compatible spreadsheet package to open your ballot paper. If you do not have an appropriate programme, you can submit your ballot in the form of an email by copying the table below.

The vote shuts on March the 16th. Please submit your ballot before then.

As always, if you have any problems or questions, please get in touch with the moderation team at jon.bright@opendemocracy.net.

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How points are allocated

In consensus voting, the voter is asked to cast preferences for one or more of the options listed. He/she may wish to submit a full vote, or may opt to submit a partial ballot, or may abstain; that, after all, is the voter's democratic prerogative. In a consensus vote on 9 options, a 1^st preference gets 9 points, a 2^nd preference gets 8 points, a 3^rd preference gets 7 points, and so on... if, that is, it is a full ballot. If, however, a voter submits a partial ballot, then the points assigned are as follows:

if he votes for only 1 option, his 1^st preference gets 1 point;
if she votes for 2 options, her 1^st preference gets 2 points (and her 2^nd preference gets 1 point);
if he votes for 3 options, his 1^st preference gets 3 points (while his 2^nd preference gets 2 points and his 3^rd preference gets 1 point);
and so on).

No matter what a voter chooses to do, however, their 1^st preference (if stated) will always get 1 point more than their 2^nd preference (if stated), and so on; the difference is always 1 point. So they do not confer any advantage on their first preference by returning a partial ballot, and arguably do better for it by returning a full ballot. In summary, it looks like this:

If you vote for:	1 option	2 options	3 options	4 options	5 options	6 options	7 options	8 options	9 options
your 1st preference gets	1 pt	2 pts	3 pts	4 pts	5 pts	6 pts	7 pts	8 pts	9 pts
your 2nd preference gets		1 pt	2 pts	3 pts	4 pts	5 pts	6 pts	7 pts	8 pts
your 3rd preference gets			1 pt	2 pts	3 pts	4 pts	5 pts	6 pts	7 pts
your 4th preference gets				1 pt	2 pts	3 pts	4 pts	5 pts	6 pts
your 5th preference gets					1 pt	2 pts	3 pts	4 pts	5 pts
your 6th preference gets						1 pt	2 pts	3 pts	4 pts
your 7th preference gets							1 pt	2 pts	3 pts
your 8th preference gets								1 pt	2 pts
your 9th preference gets									1 pt

Or to put it more abstractly, the number of points assigned to each option is (n + 1 - p) where n is the total number of options the voter indicates a preference for and p is the preference indicated. The reasoning behind the rule that the first preference indicated on a ballot with n entries should only receive n points is to remove any incentive to ‘plump' for a single alternative. To fill out your ballot, place the number 1 next to your first preference, 2 next to your second preference, and so on as far as you wish to go.

You must start with 1 and work down one by one, and you must not assign the same number to more than one option.

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The Ballot Paper

Below is the final list of options, as they appear on the ballot paper. If you are unable to use the spreadsheet ballot above, you can submit your vote by copying the table below, filling in your preferences on the right hand side, and sending it in an email to the appropriate email address above.

OPTION	PREFERENCES
B
C/E1
C/E2
D/F
G/H
H2
I/J
L
M

The options are:

State funding to be in direct proportion to the number of elected representatives, if that number is above a certain minimum.
Parties'/candidates' donations/membership/affiliation fees may be obtained from either corporate and/or individual sources.
Political activities not to be limited in scope, but only to current financial restraints in election campaigns.

C/E1

State funding to constituency parties to be dependent on number of local paid-up members.
Donations/membership fees to parties/candidates to be from individuals only.
Political activities in the constituency subject to current expenditure limits; nation-wide party activities to be under tighter controls, both fiscal and functional (certain activities, ads etc, banned).

C/E2

State funding to constituency parties to be dependent on number of local paid-up members.
Only membership fees (without any additional contributions) to parties/candidates, and only from individuals.
Political activities at both constituency and national level to be under tighter controls, both fiscal and functional (certain activities, ads etc, banned).

D/F.

State funding to constituency candidates (to those who pass a certain threshold of votes gained in the subsequent election).
Donations/membership fees to parties/candidates to be from individuals only.
Political activities not to be limited in scope, but only to current financial restraints in election campaigns.

G/H.

State and corporate funding pooled into a "democracy fund" to finance innovative, democratic activities by individual political parties and/or NGOs. Administered by Electoral Commission.
Donations/membership fees to parties/candidates to be from individuals only.
Political activities at both constituency and national level to be under tighter controls, both fiscal and functional (certain activities, ads etc, banned).

H2.

State funding to be in kind only, as administered by the Electoral Commission.
Parties'/candidates' donations/membership/affiliation fees may be obtained from either corporate and/or individual sources.
Political activities at both constituency and national level to be under tighter controls, both fiscal and functional (certain activities, ads etc, banned).

I/J.

Each voter has two votes, one elects a candidate, the other funds a political organisation. State funding to parties/candidates in proportion to the number of second votes cast.
Parties/candidates may also receive donations/membership fees but from individuals only.
Political activities in the constituency subject to current expenditure limits; nation-wide party activities to be under tighter fiscal controls during election campaigns.

State funding and corporate funding to be banned.
Only membership fees (without any additional contributions) to parties/candidates, and only from individuals.
Political activities in the constituency subject to current expenditure limits; nation-wide party activities to be under tighter fiscal controls during election campaigns.

State funding to be banned.
Parties/candidates may receive donations and/or membership/affiliation fees from either corporate and/or individual sources.
Political activities in the constituency subject to current expenditure limits; nation-wide party activities to be under tighter controls, both fiscal and functional (certain activities, ads etc, banned).

Summary table:

Family	Option	INCOME				EXPENDITURE
		State funding, to be paid to national party (P) or local constituency (C)		Non-state funding		Activities: (what do parties do with their funds?) are activities to be further restricted?
				individual	corporate
A/B - state + corporate funding	B	state funds those parties/candidates with a minimum number of elected reps	P	yes	yes	no more than at present
C/D/E/F state funding but no corporate funding	C/E1	as per number of local members	C	yes	no	yes, nationally
	C/E2	as per number of local members	C	membership fees only	no	yes, both locally and nationally
	D/F	all (above a fixed votes threshold) equally	C	yes	no	no more than at present
G/H state funds democratic process	G/H	state + corporate funding goes into a democracy fund	C	yes	yes, but pooled	yes, both locally and nationally
G/H state funds democratic process	H2	state funding in kind only	C	yes	yes	yes, both locally and nationally
I/J - state funding /votes	I/J	each voter votes twice: state funds parties /candidates as per their share of second votes	C	yes	no	yes, nationally
K/L/M state funding banned	L	no state or corporate funding	n/a	membership fees only	no	yes, nationally
K/L/M state funding banned	M	no state funding	n/a	yes	yes	yes, nationally

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If you have any queries or comments about the vote stage, you can post them on the comments section below.

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The de Borda Experiment - Vote,