Abstract
Abstract The aim of this study is evaluate various single winner voting systems with the help of computer aided simulations. The impact of phenomena such as strategic voting, spoiler effect and centre squeeze are studied on various election systems such as First Past the Post, Ranked voting, Approval voting and Score voting. The democratic process gives great moral legitimacy to the winner as they are deemed to be chosen by the people, ergo the election system too needs to accurately reflect the will of all the people. Single winner systems or “winner takes all” systems have the advantage of decisive governments as compared to proportional systems but by its construct exclude parliamentary representation to a large percentage of voters who ended up on the losing side. It is therefore even more important that the single winner system mirror the voters mandate as accurately as possible. I conclude after evaluation that alternate systems such as Instant Runoff or Approval voting could be considered in lieu of the FPTP systems as they have fewer flaws and are more likely to give a truer representation of electorate’s choice.
Highlights
In the history of Indian elections, the number of seats won by a party has never matched the percentage of total votes received by that party
The First-Past the Post (FPTP), or ‘winner takes all’, voting system works such that whoever receives the most votes wins the election even if they don’t reach the 50% mark
Australia and New Zealand are some examples of countries that hold their main elections in this fashion while several other countries use it for smaller polls such as India (Election of the President), Canada and even the United States has recently implemented the system in some local elections and regional primaries
Summary
In the history of Indian elections, the number of seats won by a party has never matched the percentage of total votes received by that party. This anomaly is not just limited to India, but it is found in nearly every plurality based democratic system. One of the most prominent illustrations of this phenomenon in recent history is the 2016 US Election, in which Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but lost the election. This begs the question as to whether there are other alternative single winner voting systems which reflect the choice of the voters more accurately
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