Felix Sargent

Software Engineering Leadership | Social Choice Theory

My letter to the editor was published in The Economist!

This is a life goal achieved.

The error is in the way we vote, the solution is approval voting. Find out more by checking out The Center for Election Science

The primary problem

Lexington was right to point out that our primary system poorly reflects the public interest (February 29th). The column referred to a paper by the Brookings Institution, which says that “party organisations need to find ways to reassert more control over their candidate selection processes before candidates reach the primary ballot.”

The error is in the way we vote. When only a single vote is allowed, moderates split their votes and radicals win. There are several better options, such as “approval voting”, which was recently implemented in Fargo, North Dakota, and will soon be on the ballot in St Louis. It favours consensus and increases the quality of candidates by not being vulnerable to vote splitting. Americans should try several different local methods, so that we can ultimately replace the current silly national system.

FELIX SARGENT Chair Board of directors Centre for Election Science Oakland, California

Originally published at https://www.economist.com/letters/2020/03/26/letters-to-the-editor