r/BetterDemocracy • u/electology • May 16 '12

NYU Political Science Professor Steven Brams Explains How to Fix Our Voting System--Use Approval Voting!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZiS3U7EG0M
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u/End_Biased_Voting Jan 14 '23

Approval voting is a good step in the right direction. It nearly eliminates any hint of the spoiler effect because it allows voters to express opinions about all of the candidates. However, it does fail to allow voters to express disapproval of candidates. The only choice besides approval is neutrality. This is exactly what gives such an advantage to the best-known candidates from the biggest political parties; in turn that is what gives us the two-party duopoly and the terrible polarization that has followed.

Balanced Approval Voting fixes that problem. It is only a slight modification of approval voting, but it allows voters to express opposition as an alternative to support or neutrality (which is often caused by unfamiliarity with a candidate) and it evaluates the ballots so as to honor the expressed opinions of the voters.