[Lnc-business] drama over RCV in Maine

Caryn Ann Harlos caryn.ann.harlos at lp.org
Sat Dec 15 21:38:35 EST 2018


The explanation of the spoiled ballot issue is sound and logical.

 But I wonder why open source nonproprietary software could not be used?
Manually testing a machine is much different examining code.

On Sat, Dec 15, 2018 at 6:08 PM Alicia Mattson via Lnc-business <
lnc-business at hq.lp.org> wrote:

>    Nearly every vote-counting machine makes use of proprietary software,
>    though it may be required that the machine be made available for
>    advance testing to confirm how it counts various scenarios.
>    I believe you fell for their terminology.  The basic logic of "for any
>    given ballot, count the vote for the highest-ranked candidate who has
>    not been dropped" is described as a complex and mysterious proprietary
>    algorithm precisely in order to evoke the suspicious response that you
>    had.
>    There are several reasons to not include the exhausted ballots in the
>    denominator.  Election denominators are those who cast a vote in that
>    particular race, not the number who showed up at the polls that day but
>    skipped voting in that race.  Abstentions do not count in the
>    denominator.  In ranked choice voting, each round is basically a
>    separate election, and the voters who cast the exhausted ballots
>    abstained in the subsequent rounds, choosing to not express a
>    preference.  The point is to get to a majority of those who expressed a
>    preference in that round of voting, and keeping the
>    exhausted/abstentions in the count could prevent anyone from ever
>    achieving a majority.
>    -Alicia
>
>    On Sat, Dec 15, 2018 at 2:02 AM Caryn Ann Harlos
>    <[1]caryn.ann.harlos at lp.org> wrote:
>
>    Very interesting choice of "rank voting" in some places which
>    purposefully seems to make the reader think of stinky and "ranked
>    voting" in others.
>    I think a couple of interesting points though were raised - why is the
>    software proprietary?  I don't think wanting to inspect the software is
>    unreasonable, and I could see the LP making that request in certain
>    situations.  My second question is that is it correct that the spoiled
>    votes are not only not reallocated but are they thrown out of the total
>    needed so that the winner truly can hypothetically not have 50% plus
>    one of the voter numbers that showed up on election day?  Those two
>    points I think were valid concerns.
>    The rest is hysterical fear mongering and "people are too stupid to
>    figure this out" language.
>
>    On Fri, Dec 14, 2018 at 11:44 PM Alicia Mattson via Lnc-business
>    <[2]lnc-business at hq.lp.org> wrote:
>
>         I thought you would enjoy the vocabulary choices in this article
>         portraying Maine's ranked choice voting as being some dirty
>      trick.  I
>         like the talk about the scary proprietary algorithm that decides
>      how
>         the votes are re-allocated in round 2.
>
>      [1][3]https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/05/gop-winner-in-ma
>      ine-02
>         -now-declared-loser-due-to-rank-voting/
>         Of course, if the tables were turned, and the Democrat had the
>         plurality but lost to the Republican in runoff rounds, the
>      Democrats
>         would be making the same complaints.
>         -Alicia
>      References
>         1.
>      [4]https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/05/gop-winner-in-maine
>      -02-now-declared-loser-due-to-rank-voting/
>
>      --
>
>      In Liberty,
>    [uc?id=1DeRjq-L8dvRZabgEG94VkkUvjoHatcfP&export=download]
>    Libertarian Party and Libertarian National Committee
>    Secretary - [5]Caryn.Ann. Harlos at LP.org or Secretary at LP.org.
>    Chair, LP Historical Preservation Committee - LPedia at LP.org
>    Call me at 561.523.2250 and follow my public figure page
>    at [6]facebook.com/pinkflameofliberty/
>    =======================================================================
>    ==
>    Peaceful Commerce With All Nations * Non-interventionism * Re-Legalize
>    All Drugs * End Government Intrusion In The Bedroom * Repeal All Gun
>    Laws * Abolish All Taxation * Sound, Free-market Money * Abolish The
>    Fed * End Corporate & Individual Welfare * Abolish The IRS and Repeal
>    the Income Tax * Privatize Transportation Infrastructure * Free-market
>    Emergency Services * Open Migration * Transfer Government Schools To
>    The Private Sector * Eliminate Regulation *
>    VOTE LIBERTARIAN * 800-ELECT-US or [7]http://www.LP.org
>    =======================================================================
>    ==
>
> References
>
>    1. mailto:caryn.ann.harlos at lp.org
>    2. mailto:lnc-business at hq.lp.org
>    3. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/05/gop-winner-in-maine-02
>    4.
> https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/05/gop-winner-in-maine-02-now-declared-loser-due-to-rank-voting/
>    5. mailto:Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org
>    6. http://facebook.com/pinkflameofliberty/
>    7. http://www.lp.org/
>
-- 

*  In Liberty,*

*Libertarian Party and Libertarian National Committee Secretary *- Caryn.Ann.
Harlos at LP.org <Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org> or Secretary at LP.org.
*Chair, LP Historical Preservation Committee* - LPedia at LP.org
Call me at 561.523.2250 and follow my public figure page at
facebook.com/pinkflameofliberty/

=========================================================================
Peaceful Commerce With All Nations * Non-interventionism * Re-Legalize All
Drugs * End Government Intrusion In The Bedroom * Repeal All Gun Laws *
Abolish All Taxation * Sound, Free-market Money * Abolish The Fed * End
Corporate & Individual Welfare * Abolish The IRS and Repeal the Income Tax
* Privatize Transportation Infrastructure * Free-market Emergency Services
* Open Migration * Transfer Government Schools To The Private Sector *
Eliminate Regulation *

*VOTE LIBERTARIAN * 800-ELECT-US or http://www.LP.org <http://www.lp.org/>*
=========================================================================
-------------- next part --------------
   The explanation of the spoiled ballot issue is sound and logical.

    But I wonder why open source nonproprietary software could not be
   used? Manually testing a machine is much different examining code.

   On Sat, Dec 15, 2018 at 6:08 PM Alicia Mattson via Lnc-business
   <[1]lnc-business at hq.lp.org> wrote:

        Nearly every vote-counting machine makes use of proprietary
     software,
        though it may be required that the machine be made available for
        advance testing to confirm how it counts various scenarios.
        I believe you fell for their terminology.  The basic logic of
     "for any
        given ballot, count the vote for the highest-ranked candidate who
     has
        not been dropped" is described as a complex and mysterious
     proprietary
        algorithm precisely in order to evoke the suspicious response
     that you
        had.
        There are several reasons to not include the exhausted ballots in
     the
        denominator.  Election denominators are those who cast a vote in
     that
        particular race, not the number who showed up at the polls that
     day but
        skipped voting in that race.  Abstentions do not count in the
        denominator.  In ranked choice voting, each round is basically a
        separate election, and the voters who cast the exhausted ballots
        abstained in the subsequent rounds, choosing to not express a
        preference.  The point is to get to a majority of those who
     expressed a
        preference in that round of voting, and keeping the
        exhausted/abstentions in the count could prevent anyone from ever
        achieving a majority.
        -Alicia
        On Sat, Dec 15, 2018 at 2:02 AM Caryn Ann Harlos
        <[1][2]caryn.ann.harlos at lp.org> wrote:
        Very interesting choice of "rank voting" in some places which
        purposefully seems to make the reader think of stinky and "ranked
        voting" in others.
        I think a couple of interesting points though were raised - why
     is the
        software proprietary?  I don't think wanting to inspect the
     software is
        unreasonable, and I could see the LP making that request in
     certain
        situations.  My second question is that is it correct that the
     spoiled
        votes are not only not reallocated but are they thrown out of the
     total
        needed so that the winner truly can hypothetically not have 50%
     plus
        one of the voter numbers that showed up on election day?  Those
     two
        points I think were valid concerns.
        The rest is hysterical fear mongering and "people are too stupid
     to
        figure this out" language.
        On Fri, Dec 14, 2018 at 11:44 PM Alicia Mattson via Lnc-business
        <[2][3]lnc-business at hq.lp.org> wrote:
             I thought you would enjoy the vocabulary choices in this
     article
             portraying Maine's ranked choice voting as being some dirty
          trick.  I
             like the talk about the scary proprietary algorithm that
     decides
          how
             the votes are re-allocated in round 2.

     [1][3][4]https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/05/gop-winner-in
     -ma
          ine-02
             -now-declared-loser-due-to-rank-voting/
             Of course, if the tables were turned, and the Democrat had
     the
             plurality but lost to the Republican in runoff rounds, the
          Democrats
             would be making the same complaints.
             -Alicia
          References
             1.

     [4][5]https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/05/gop-winner-in-ma
     ine
          -02-now-declared-loser-due-to-rank-voting/
          --
          In Liberty,
        [uc?id=1DeRjq-L8dvRZabgEG94VkkUvjoHatcfP&export=download]
        Libertarian Party and Libertarian National Committee
        Secretary - [5]Caryn.Ann. Harlos at LP.org or Secretary at LP.org.
        Chair, LP Historical Preservation Committee - LPedia at LP.org
        Call me at 561.523.2250 and follow my public figure page
        at [6][6]facebook.com/pinkflameofliberty/

     ====================================================================
     ===
        ==
        Peaceful Commerce With All Nations * Non-interventionism *
     Re-Legalize
        All Drugs * End Government Intrusion In The Bedroom * Repeal All
     Gun
        Laws * Abolish All Taxation * Sound, Free-market Money * Abolish
     The
        Fed * End Corporate & Individual Welfare * Abolish The IRS and
     Repeal
        the Income Tax * Privatize Transportation Infrastructure *
     Free-market
        Emergency Services * Open Migration * Transfer Government Schools
     To
        The Private Sector * Eliminate Regulation *
        VOTE LIBERTARIAN * 800-ELECT-US or [7][7]http://www.LP.org

     ====================================================================
     ===
        ==
     References
        1. mailto:[8]caryn.ann.harlos at lp.org
        2. mailto:[9]lnc-business at hq.lp.org
        3.
     [10]https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/05/gop-winner-in-main
     e-02
        4.
     [11]https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/05/gop-winner-in-main
     e-02-now-declared-loser-due-to-rank-voting/
        5. mailto:[12]Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org
        6. [13]http://facebook.com/pinkflameofliberty/
        7. [14]http://www.lp.org/

   --

     In Liberty,
   [uc?id=1DeRjq-L8dvRZabgEG94VkkUvjoHatcfP&export=download]
   Libertarian Party and Libertarian National Committee
   Secretary - [15]Caryn.Ann. Harlos at LP.org or Secretary at LP.org.
   Chair, LP Historical Preservation Committee - LPedia at LP.org
   Call me at 561.523.2250 and follow my public figure page
   at [16]facebook.com/pinkflameofliberty/
   =======================================================================
   ==
   Peaceful Commerce With All Nations * Non-interventionism * Re-Legalize
   All Drugs * End Government Intrusion In The Bedroom * Repeal All Gun
   Laws * Abolish All Taxation * Sound, Free-market Money * Abolish The
   Fed * End Corporate & Individual Welfare * Abolish The IRS and Repeal
   the Income Tax * Privatize Transportation Infrastructure * Free-market
   Emergency Services * Open Migration * Transfer Government Schools To
   The Private Sector * Eliminate Regulation *
   VOTE LIBERTARIAN * 800-ELECT-US or [17]http://www.LP.org
   =======================================================================
   ==

References

   1. mailto:lnc-business at hq.lp.org
   2. mailto:caryn.ann.harlos at lp.org
   3. mailto:lnc-business at hq.lp.org
   4. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/05/gop-winner-in-ma
   5. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/05/gop-winner-in-maine
   6. http://facebook.com/pinkflameofliberty/
   7. http://www.LP.org/
   8. mailto:caryn.ann.harlos at lp.org
   9. mailto:lnc-business at hq.lp.org
  10. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/05/gop-winner-in-maine-02
  11. https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2018/12/05/gop-winner-in-maine-02-now-declared-loser-due-to-rank-voting/
  12. mailto:Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org
  13. http://facebook.com/pinkflameofliberty/
  14. http://www.lp.org/
  15. mailto:Caryn.Ann.Harlos at LP.org
  16. http://facebook.com/pinkflameofliberty/
  17. http://www.lp.org/


More information about the Lnc-business mailing list