#BIRNY stands for Balanced Instant Runoff Normalized Yield. It's easy to use & more powerful than #ApprovalVoting, #ScoreVoting & #RankedChoiceVoting, combined. #Birny also allows voting directly for or directly against any number of competing candidates. Continue reading…
#BRIRES stands for Balanced Rational Instant Runoff Election Systems, and allows the voter to choose ballot style such as #ScoreVoting, #ApprovalVoting, or #RankedChoiceVoting, and also allows voters the option of using a #BalancedBallot to cast a true #NegativeVote. #BIRNY
For each available elected seat or position being voted on, #BIRNY would allow the voter one vote to be divided up as the voter sees fit, like making change. For example, a vote of 6 points in favor of one candidate, plus 4 points against another candidate for the same office.
If the voter wants a familiar simple ballot such as a first past the post ballot, that's okay. #BIRNY would translate that ballot to its own format when they're done filling it out and the voter could then review and edit that resulting ballot before printing or submitting it.
Ordinary unbalanced ballots simply lists candidates to pick from and only allow affirmation. A balanced ballot allows affirmation or rejection of any listed candidate. With #BIRNY the voter can indicate any strength of affirmation or rejection regarding any number of candidates.
#BIRNY would effectively be normalized balanced score voting in each round of the runoff process, with each round eliminating the least wanted candidate as indicated by that round. When all remaining candidates are exactly tied or there remains only one, that's the last round.
If just one candidate qualifies as least wanted, then that candidate would be eliminated in that round. In the unlikely event of an exact tie for least wanted, with one or more candidates not included in that tie, all least wanted candidates would be eliminated in that round.
#BIRNY would count voted just like any #BRIRE system, but would normalize #PositiveVotes and #NegativeVotes collectively rather than separately in order to preserve their relative strengths. This would allow a voter to prioritize or rank positive and negative votes in any order.
While using a ranked choice ballot would be an option, any voter could simulate a ranked choice vote without using a ranked choice ballot simply by using 1 for the highest priority as first rank, & the fractions ½ for second rank, ⅓ for third rank, ¼ for fourth rank, and so on.
Unlike ordinary ranked-choice voting, #BIRNY allows every candidate that the voter approves of to be supported by their vote at every stage in the runoff until that candidate gets eliminated or wins, while preserving both the voter's order of prefernece & strength of preference.
#BIRNY would also discourage faking positive support for a candidate seen as a mere lesser of evils, since voting for more candidates will spread theor vote out over those candidates until eliminated by the runoff & there is an option to actually vote directly against the worst.
The simple ballot options could include #NegativeVote support for balance or could leave it off for further simplicity if that is the voter's preference. This #VoterCentric approach is intended to best accommodate the various preferences & abilities of a diverse range of voters.
Different voters could choose different ballot styles such as approval, scale, ranked choice, or even the familiar first past the post chose one ballot. All such ballots would be fairly counted and processed together in the same system without any incompatibility issues. #BIRNY
Voters opting for a simpler ballot could review & edit the ballot produced for printing and submission as a translation of that simpler ballot. That way, voters can learn at their own pace to take better advantage of the more powerful and more versatile ballot directly. #BIRNY.
As an additional option, any voter could choose to give all or part of their vote to "None" with regard to a particular available seat or position being voted on, effectively casting the indicated portion of their vote as a #NoneOfTheAbove vote in that election contest. #BIRNY
Once all ballots have been submitted and the deadline for final submission has passed, the instant runoff process would begin. Each stage of the runoff process would proceed as follows, being processed via computer with a record kept of each step along the way. #BIRNY
First the system would divide each of a voter's approval scores by their sum approval score total with regard to that elected position, to count as that fraction of their #PositiveVote going to the specified candidate. #BIRNY
Then the vote counting system would divide each of a voter's disapproval scores by their sum disapproval score total with regard to that elected position, to count as that fraction of their #NegativeVote against the specified candidate. #BRIRES
The vote counting system would then add the voter's total #ApprovalScore and total #DisapprovalScore to get a #TotalScore. If that total score is zero, with regard to any elected position, that vote would be counted as #NoneOfTheAbove.
If the #TotalScore is not zero, each vote for or against each candidate for the given elected position is then normalized by dividing it by that calculated total score, thus producing the vote's normalized yield which allows it to be added in with other people's votes. #BIRNY
Once each vote has been normalized to a value of 1 total for a given elected seat or position, it would then be added to the specified candidate's #ApprovalVote sum or #DisapprovalVote sum according to whether it had been cast as a #PositiveVote or cast as a #NegativeVote. #BIRNY
Each candidate's #DisapprovalVote sum would then be subtracted from that candidate's #ApprovalVote sum for the given round, to reach a #NetVote regarding that candidate for the given elected position in that round. This indicates the collective order of voter preference. #BIRNY
When there is only one candidate remaining with in the contest for a given elected position, that candidate wins, unless the voters have collectively expressed more disapproval than approval with regard to the remaining candidate, in which case #NoneOfTheAbove wins. #BIRNY
If #NoneOfTheAbove wins a specific elected position, for example if only one candidate remains and that candidate has not been collectively approved by a positive #NetVote total, then disqualify the candidates who ran for that position & start that specific election over. #BIRNY
If there is more than one candidate remaining, the vote counting system would clear the vote sums for each candidate & begin another round at the step where #ApprovalVotes & #DisapprovalVotes are added up with regard to each candidate that hasn't yet been eliminated. #BIRNY
Here's a link to this an unrolled copy of this thread.
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1297192…
Makes it easier to read. #BIRNY
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1297192…
Makes it easier to read. #BIRNY
To help us make elections even more fair, here is a link to a copy of my thread about my #PeoplesPrimary concept.
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1295820…
which makes it easier to read.
threadreaderapp.com/thread/1295820…
which makes it easier to read.
You can open my #PeoplesPrimary thread directly at
to read about using an approval vote People's Primary in an election's first stage primaries with #BIRNY in the general election second stage. 🔥#PeoplesCampaign🐦
to read about using an approval vote People's Primary in an election's first stage primaries with #BIRNY in the general election second stage. 🔥#PeoplesCampaign🐦
