Department of Mathematics
Title : Voting Methods for Municipal Elections: Propaganda, Field Experiments and what USA Voters Want from an Election Algorithm
| Speaker: Kathryn E. Lenz Affiliation: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Minnesota Duluth Time: 4:00 pm Tuesday, 19 March, 2013 Location: Room 6115, Owen Glenn Building |
Abstract
| Within the past two decades various cities across the USA have experimented with instant run-off voting (IRV) for political elections. These experiments demonstrate a public desire for replacing plurality voting with a better method and they give insight into what voters want from an election algorithm. This talk will briefly review several standard election algorithms, properties and public reaction to them. Examples will be given of IRV city election results, pro-IRV propaganda found on websites, misrepresentations in newspaper opinion pieces and discussions with mathematicians and non-mathematicians. Though disheartening, misinformation about IRV propagating in the public arena and suppression of full IRV election results do provide opportunities for the mathematically minded to engage in civic dialogue and to raise awareness concerning election algorithm options. |
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Programmes and Centres
- New Zealand Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (NZIMA)
- Community for Understanding and Learning in the Mathematical Sciences (CULMS)
- Centre for Mathematical Social Science (CMSS)
- Department of Computer Science
- Department of Engineering Science
- Department of Physics
- Department of Statistics
- Auckland Bioengineering Institute
