Hey Lionel! Lionel Dricot wrote:
I have the feeling that you think this is about a very different counting method. It's not. And using the Maemo software doesn't imply how to count the ballots, because the Maemo voting script doesn't implement any STV mechanisms. So you can use the Maemo software and still count the ballots in many ways using "OpenSTV". But see below :)Honnestly, I'm not interested about the algorithm. The easier it is, the best it is for me. I believe that we announced that we will use Maemo software for elections. If we want to stay transparent, I believe we have to stay with the Maemo method. If it had drawbacks, we should have been concerned before the election.
Well. It's not that easy. The "Maemo method" was "Random Transfer STV with Droop-Static-Whole threshold", see http://maemo.org/vote/results.php?election_id=6. But they have switched to "Fractional Transfer Vote" now for the reasons below.I propose the following : 1) What are the results with the Maemo method ?
Because "Random Transfer STV with Droop-Static-Whole threshold" might change the result if the order of the ballots is changed, due to votes being transferred more or less randomly.2) What is the problem with those results ? (aka : why should we use another method ?)
And to not have an election based on randomness, Maemo switched to a more deterministic method.
It's not a very different counting method. Just implementation details. But they matter in our case: Srinivasa would be elected instead of Jorge.3) What are the results with alternatives methods ? (by Alternative, I suggest to try other algo like Condorcet or simple preferential vote. Maybe we will discover that results are nearly always the same)
4) Maybe ask people for who the method change their elected status if they accept the Maemo result ?
Good point.
Given that I think you've slightly misunderstood the current situation, does that statement still hold? :)Anyway, I want to insist that, in my opinion, we were using Maemo method, including the counting algorithm. I believe that this « using Maemo » was reasonnably clear. People interested in the algo should have challenged us before the election. [...]
We probably could stick to it, arguing, that we use the Maemo voting script which doesn't change the order of the ballots and thus the result is perfectly reproducible.
But my impression is, that the Fractional Transfer is more deterministic and thus better suited to hold an election.
Cheers, Tobi
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