Voting Systems Explained

Some great educational content on the pitfalls of different voting systems

YOUTUBEPOLITICS

James Pagen

8/29/20246 min read

Principles of a Voting System

One of the main talking points in the Veritasium video (which I've also seen discussed by Physics for Birds in their video The Topological Problem with Voting) is the idea that you can't have a logically consistent voting system. The problem being that the 5 principles outlined cannot all be satisfied at once. This is quite similar to a mathematically proof: we look at what seems fundamentally true, we accept these principles as axioms, from these axioms we derive other results. If you can reason your way to a contradiction then, unless you made an error, there is a problem with your system.

However, this does require you to choose some principles that we accept as true. It is quite easy to see how this can lead to disagreement. Are the 5 principles enough? Are any unnecessary? Do we consider any to be more important than the others? Perhaps useful is to think about some of the things we DON'T want to happen - such as people's complaints with current voting systems - and then try to craft rules to avoid these.

The United Kingdom

Let's consider some of the complaints about a real application of voting, elections in the United Kingdom. When it comes to elections, the UK uses a First Past the Post (FPTP) voting systems. Well, that's part of what goes on. As is often the case, things are a little more complicated so I can recommend Jay Foreman's video: Who's in charge of Britain? if you want to understand the details behind UK elections.

But for the most part, we think about the UK's elections operating between a few candidates in a FPTP system. So whoever gets the most votes, wins. Simple, right? So why do many people feel unhappy with the way the system works? Why are there videos from creators like CGP Grey and TLDR news describing why some of the recent elections have been the least representative in history? The videos discuss why this is the case, but two reasons that can lead people to feel dissatisfied are the Spoiler Effect and the resulting Two Party System.

The Spoiler Effect

This effect is when voting for your preferred option (or the introduction of a preferred option) increases the likelihood of a negative outcome. If two liberal (or two conservative) parties enter an election, they can split the liberal (or conservative) vote and end up performing worse than had they joined under one party. This results in pressure to cast your vote tactically, rather than voting based on your true preferences. People may consider which party they prefer, but only from those who they think have a chance of winning. It doesn't sway every voter, but many feel that only a subset of the parties on the ballot feel like a viable option. Resulting in reduced choice for voters.

Jay Foreman's video: What is tactical voting? explains this well and he also touches on the misinformation around FPTP compared to other systems. The two biggest parties benefit massively from maintaining the status quo and therefore overstate the benefits of FPTP. (Quick aside: I find it a little demoralising that the UK had the chance to move to AV but voted against it!)

Two Party Rule

As a consequence of the pressure to vote tactically, the UK elections can feel like you only have two choices. Do I prefer Labour or do I prefer Conservative? Or perhaps more accurate to people's feelings: which one do I vote against? This two party system has several damaging consequences: reduced choice for votes; increased apathy as outcomes feel more pre-determined; hampering of smaller political parties; it even hurts those who favour the two big parties, as they sway in their policies to try and attract voters away from their opposition!

Alternatives to First Past the Post

Many of the issues raised in the UK, and in other nations, stem directly from the use of First Past the Post voting. CGP Grey has a great series of videos within his Adventure's in Voting that cover how FPTP (and other voting systems) work and some of the issues they lead to (such as gerrymandering). I highly recommend watching his content on voting as he makes it both simple and engaging, even if it frustrating to understand some of the obvious flaws in the way we currently do things.

How can we get away from this?

My Thoughts

My personal opinion, is that First Past the Post is just about the worst choice from the many simple voting systems available to us. I have a strong preference for a ranked voting system such as the Alternative Vote (AV) or Single-Transferable Vote (STV). I like that it gives voters the opportunity to express all their preferences so that their ballot actually reflects how they feel. Of the two, I would lean towards AV because it is a small, easy-to-understand change that is simply dominant over FPTP. I like the way STV can net out as more proportional, but think the allocation of votes does feel more complex in a way that wouldn't resonate with most voters. AV will feel similar, and function in a similar manner, to FPTP whilst solving the main issue I have with the current system: feeling like you can't vote for your preferred candidate.

During my time at university, I was part of the mixed hockey club and we used an STV system for electing our club executives. The social secretaries, for example, would have two winners who would then both be responsible for our socials throughout the year. Having seen the system in practice, the only real downside was the votes taking a little longer to count. Otherwise, the system was simple, fair and didn't get any complaints! The parliament website even has a page listing all the places AV and STV are used in current government elections: Voting systems in the UK. So these aren't niche, untested systems! They work and we know they work. FPTP has many flaws and we know those flaws, so why not switch?

One argument people might give: "If we're going to switch, we should switch to the best possible system. Therefore, I am against AV or STV because I'd prefer an alternative such as mixed proportional representation". Personally, I'm against mixed proportional representation despite the way it can seem more "fair" in terms of being closer to the actual voter split. My concern is that it would increase the political infighting and result in a government that gets nothing done. As opposed to a majority party executing a vision. I know this is used in some European countries and, although my knowledge of those systems has large gaps, I'm not convinced I'd find their elections preferable to the system we have here in the UK. I want to be able to vote for my preferred option. But if that option doesn't win, I can accept that (for a time) the government will reflect views of others in the country more than my own.

In a similar vein, I accept political parties as a necessary evil. I dislike the way they can force issues down party lines rather than considering the best course of action. In some situations, a more conservative approach may be best. In other cases, a more liberal or moderate one. Parties can force a blanket approach that reduces flexibility. However, I think any system that is a mix of individuals or tries to collect public votes on a per-policy basis would be a nightmare. So I can accept that we group beliefs, even if I end up feeling like none of the political parties actually represent my views. And even then, a system like AV would hopefully mitigate that last complaint, as a greater variety of political parties would be viable.

For me, the most important element of a voting system is how I feel when I cast my vote. I want voters to feel they can vote honestly and without the need for strategy. And that their vote will be tallied fairly when it comes to the count.

But really, we each need to make our own mind up. So I recommend you go and watch the videos I've linked here, and explore others as well, to understand the pros, the cons and to make a decision for yourself:

Why do Voting Systems go wrong?

Yesterday, I watched Vertitasium's video on Why Democracy Is Mathematically Impossible. The video does a good job of discussing some of the issues and different systems, but I think it's a fascinating topic and there's a wealth of educational content available on YouTube.

What makes a good voting system? When does a system become "unfair"? There's so many questions worth exploring about voting. I recommend that you take some time to learn more about the different systems and their implications, then you can arrive at your own answers.

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