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Which is the best voting system?
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Approval voting is the simplest voting system

In the approval voting system, voters pick whether they approve or disapprove of each candidate. The simplicity of this process is key and would eliminate many complexities present in traditional voting systems.

Context

Approval voting enables voters to select all candidates that they approve of. The candidate with the highest approval rating wins the election.

The Argument

Voting—especially in the United States—can be an incredibly complicated process. Citizens must keep track of their voter registration status, personal information, and cast a ballot while understanding the multi-faceted electoral college system as well. Due to this cumbersome process, the United States has one of the lowest voter turnout rates of about 60 percent. [1] Approval voting is the best voting system because it is the least complicated system. Voters only need to ask themselves one question: “Do I approve of this person for the job?” If the answer is yes, then you vote for the candidate. It is that simple. No complex electoral college or ranking candidates. [2] Tied with the slogan “count all the votes,” approval voting is known for representing every voter’s individual voice. Unlike ranked-choice voting or proportional representation in which many votes are deemed invalid, approval voting counts every single vote. Apart from failing to adhere to voting guidelines, there are no nuances that can nullify a vote in the approval voting system. [3] Approval voting is the best voting system because of its forthright nature. Democracies should adopt approval voting to simplify the election process and encourage more people to vote.

Counter arguments

Approval voting is too stringent as you can only either approve or disapprove of a candidate. Approval voting does not allow citizens to express their degree of preference for the candidates they approve of. For example, the majority of voters may prefer one candidate, but if another candidate gets more approval votes, they will still win. A majority of approval votes does not correlate to a majority voter preference.[4]

Proponents

Premises

Rejecting the premises

References

  1. https://ideas.ted.com/why-is-voting-in-the-us-so-difficult/
  2. https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/alternative-voting-systems.aspx
  3. https://www.rangevoting.org/Approval.html
  4. https://electionscience.org/voting-methods/ten-critiques-and-defenses-on-approval-voting/
This page was last edited on Wednesday, 14 Oct 2020 at 18:01 UTC