Voting Results Research Articles

A Spatial Optimization Approach for Simultaneously Districting Precincts and Locating Polling Places

Voting is the most basic form of political participation. The agencies that are responsible for voting must delineate precincts and designate a polling place for each precinct. This spatial decision-making requires a strategic approach for several reasons. First, changes in the location of polling places induce transportation and search costs from the perspective of voters. Second, improving accessibility to polling places can increase turnout. Third, differences in the population sizes of precincts may produce biased voting results. Spatial optimization approaches can be a strategic method for delimiting precincts and siting polling places. The purpose of this paper is to develop a spatial optimization model, namely, the capacitated double p-median problem with preference (CDPMP-P), which simultaneously delimits boundaries of precincts and selects potential facilities in terms of mixed integer programming (MIP). The CDPMP-P explicitly includes realistic requirements, such as population balance, the spatial continuity of precincts, the preferences of potential facilities where polling places can be installed, and the possibility of allocating multiple polling places in one facility.

Constitutional Reform in Russia: Searching for National Identity

The axiological foundations of modern constitutionalism are considered. The conclusion based on a study of world experience in constitutional development is made that there is a general trend to replenish the value catalog of constitutions, taking into account the historical experience accumulated by states and national priorities. The perception of national values in the constitutional evolution of Russia is traced; the role of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, which gives impetus to the formation and understanding of the concept of national constitutional identity, is emphasized. As a result of an interdisciplinary analysis, including the methodology of historical, philosophical, and legal sciences, an assessment is given of changes to the Basic Law of the Russian Federation in 2020, which in their significance and depth are close to constitutional reform. The content of amendments to the 1993 Constitution is analyzed. The amendments will come into force based on the results of the all-Russian vote. The Russian Basic Law is noted to have acquired the properties of a program document, educational-motivating attitudes, and a pronounced socio-value filling. The amendments consolidate the existing mutual understanding of the state and its citizens in relation to basic values, as a result of which the Constitution becomes a moral reference point for Russian society, reflecting its ideals and traditional features of collective consciousness. At the same time, in the process of constitutional improvement of the mechanisms of public authority, Russia is developing its own national constitutional model, corresponding to the domestic mentality and new requirements of state security. In general, this should contribute to the establishment of a multicivilizational model of the world structure, which implies the equality of different cultures and civilizations and the diversity of national sociocultural values.

Management of Lung Nodules and Lung Cancer Screening During the COVID-19 Pandemic: CHEST Expert Panel Report.

BackgroundThe risks from potential exposure to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and resource reallocation that has occurred to combat the pandemic, have altered the balance of benefits and harms that informed current (pre-COVID-19) guideline recommendations for lung cancer screening and lung nodule evaluation. Consensus statements were developed to guide clinicians managing lung cancer screening programs and patients with lung nodules during the COVID-19 pandemic.Materials and MethodsAn expert panel of 24 members, including pulmonologists (n = 17), thoracic radiologists (n = 5), and thoracic surgeons (n = 2), was formed. The panel was provided with an overview of current evidence, summarized by recent guidelines related to lung cancer screening and lung nodule evaluation. The panel was convened by video teleconference to discuss and then vote on statements related to 12 common clinical scenarios. A predefined threshold of 70% of panel members voting agree or strongly agree was used to determine if there was a consensus for each statement. Items that may influence decisions were listed as notes to be considered for each scenario.ResultsTwelve statements related to baseline and annual lung cancer screening (n = 2), surveillance of a previously detected lung nodule (n = 5), evaluation of intermediate and high-risk lung nodules (n = 4), and management of clinical stage I non-small cell lung cancer (n = 1) were developed and modified. All 12 statements were confirmed as consensus statements according to the voting results. The consensus statements provide guidance about situations in which it was believed to be appropriate to delay screening, defer surveillance imaging of lung nodules, and minimize nonurgent interventions during the evaluation of lung nodules and stage I non-small cell lung cancer.ConclusionThere was consensus that during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is appropriate to defer enrollment in lung cancer screening and modify the evaluation of lung nodules due to the added risks from potential exposure and the need for resource reallocation. There are multiple local, regional, and patient-related factors that should be considered when applying these statements to individual patient care.© 2020 RSNA; The American College of Chest Physicians, published by Elsevier Inc; and The American College of Radiology, published by Elsevier Inc.

The first to legalise: demographic and spatial influences on Colorado Amendment 64

Colorado was one of the first states in the US to legalise the personal use and possession of marijuana on 6 November 2012. Using various estimation techniques, the purpose of this study is to examine the possible demographic and spatial factors influencing the voting behaviour of Coloradans on the issue of recreational marijuana legalisation. After the inclusion of many variables of interest, spatial spillovers from neighbouring counties do not appear to have been responsible for the vote outcome, despite visual evidence suggesting otherwise. Party affiliation and the native Coloradan population composition of counties appear to be the driving forces on the margin behind the voting results of Amendment 64.

On the Apportionment of Electoral Votes to Counties

ObjectiveThe Electoral College methods improperly represent voters, and previous elections reveal numerous counties where the popular vote in said counties are not the same as the popular vote in the state. We test a novel method to engender increased fairness in Presidential elections.MethodsThe Hill-Huntington method was applied to apportion electoral votes to counties based on each county’s recent population size. The winner-take-all method was employed for each county.ResultsAnalyzing the 2000 and 2008 elections reveals the consistency of county-apportionment with those election outcomes. Regarding the 2016 election, county-apportionment reveals the significance of the disparity between the popular vote and Electoral College results. The method provides insight into the reason such disparity exists. Across all three elections, voter representation increased under county-apportionment.ConclusionCounty-apportionment increases voter representation and can be accomplished absent Constitutional amendment by reforming electoral methods at the state level.

Analysis of journal evaluation indicators: an experimental study based on unsupervised Laplacian score

Academic journal rankings have always been a hot topic because the journals ranking will be significantly affected by using different ranking systems or bibliometrics indicators. Many studies have shown that feature selection methods are beneficial to categorize and rank journals according to the different evaluation indicators. However, such methods are limited to analyzing the journals published in a single discipline. In this article, we conduct an experiment based on unsupervised Laplacian score to analyze journal evaluation indicators between three different disciplines (Biology, Artificial Intelligence, and Mathematics). The journal’s features considered in the study include: JIF, 5-Year JIF, CiteScore, SJR, SNIP, and H-index. Based on the results of the feature selection, we first use the spectral clustering technique to verify the impact of different feature combinations on journals categorization. Furthermore, k-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) and Back Propagation Neural Network classifiers are trained to measure the classification performance by using each single feature or feature subsets. The experimental results demonstrate that the two classifiers achieve the superior classification performance when the input of the classifier is the set of JIF, CiteScore, and H-index. Finally, we design a subjective questionnaire to collect the opinion of the volunteers with regard to the six evaluation indiactors in terms of familiarity, complexity, and usability. According to the vote results of a seven-point Likert scale, JIF and H-index receive the relatively higher ratings in comparison to other bibliometric indicators.

The Cryptanalysis and Improvement of a Particular Quantum Voting Model

As an important topic of quantum cryptography, quantum voting has attracted more and more attentions recently. However, with our analysis, it can be seen that there exist some serious problems in a particular quantum voting model. Firstly, the voter does not have the ability to vote as his own. Secondly, the voter may be dishonest and can deny some corresponding voting results. Furthermore, some improvements will be presented to solve the loopholes.

Management of Patients with Advanced Prostate Cancer: Report of the Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference 2019

BackgroundInnovations in treatments, imaging, and molecular characterisation in advanced prostate cancer have improved outcomes, but there are still many aspects of management that lack high-level evidence to inform clinical practice. The Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference (APCCC) 2019 addressed some of these topics to supplement guidelines that are based on level 1 evidence. ObjectiveTo present the results from the APCCC 2019. Design, setting, and participantsSimilar to prior conferences, experts identified 10 important areas of controversy regarding the management of advanced prostate cancer: locally advanced disease, biochemical recurrence after local therapy, treating the primary tumour in the metastatic setting, metastatic hormone-sensitive/naïve prostate cancer, nonmetastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, bone health and bone metastases, molecular characterisation of tissue and blood, inter- and intrapatient heterogeneity, and adverse effects of hormonal therapy and their management. A panel of 72 international prostate cancer experts developed the programme and the consensus questions. Outcome measurements and statistical analysisThe panel voted publicly but anonymously on 123 predefined questions, which were developed by both voting and nonvoting panel members prior to the conference following a modified Delphi process. Results and limitationsPanellists voted based on their opinions rather than a standard literature review or formal meta-analysis. The answer options for the consensus questions had varying degrees of support by the panel, as reflected in this article and the detailed voting results reported in the Supplementary material. ConclusionsThese voting results from a panel of prostate cancer experts can help clinicians and patients navigate controversial areas of advanced prostate management for which high-level evidence is sparse. However, diagnostic and treatment decisions should always be individualised based on patient-specific factors, such as disease extent and location, prior lines of therapy, comorbidities, and treatment preferences, together with current and emerging clinical evidence and logistic and economic constraints. Clinical trial enrolment for men with advanced prostate cancer should be strongly encouraged. Importantly, APCCC 2019 once again identified important questions that merit assessment in specifically designed trials. Patient summaryThe Advanced Prostate Cancer Consensus Conference provides a forum to discuss and debate current diagnostic and treatment options for patients with advanced prostate cancer. The conference, which has been held three times since 2015, aims to share the knowledge of world experts in prostate cancer management with health care providers worldwide. At the end of the conference, an expert panel discusses and votes on predefined consensus questions that target the most clinically relevant areas of advanced prostate cancer treatment. The results of the voting provide a practical guide to help clinicians discuss therapeutic options with patients as part of shared and multidisciplinary decision making.

Swiss Direct Democracy and Regulation of Banking Sector

The aim of this article is to analyze the influence of the Swiss political system on the country’s banking sector. Is the Swiss direct democracy, which has no counterpart in any other country, an advantageous factor for the development and functioning of the banking sector? In order to fully answer this question, the author has analyzed the results of direct voting on the Swiss bank regulations. He has concluded that there is an important and direct influence of the political system on the functioning of the financial sector. The analysis of the results of various federal referenda confirms the thesis that the Swiss direct democracy (with its instruments of popular initiative and referendum) has a decisive influence on the regulatory process in the country’s banking sector.

The Prototype of Thai Blockchain-based Voting System

In this paper, the prototype of Thai voting sys-tem using blockchain technology (B-VoT) has been successfully designed and developed. Hyperledger Fabric was chosen to be a major blockchain infrastructure. The web-application was developed to allow voters to vote. In addition, real-time voting results will be shown on the same website after election period has passed. We connected the web-application and blockchain database together in order to store the votes as a blockchain transaction. With our Blockchain Internet Election, the voters can easily elect on the website and their votes is automatically stored in the blockchain database as a single blockchain transaction. This voting prototype can assure the data integrity because no one can modify any information or voting results. Therefore, our system could have a huge impact on the voting reliability as well as rebuild public trustworthiness in Thailand election.

ЭВОЛЮЦИЯ МОЛОДЁЖНОЙ ПОЛИТИКИ В РОССИИ В СВЕТЕ НОВЫХ КОНСТИТУЦИОННЫХ ОСНОВАНИЙ: ИСТОРИКО-ПОЛИТОЛОГИЧЕСКИЕ АСПЕКТЫ

The main purpose of the article is to consider the evolution of youth policy in Russia in the light of the constitutional reform of 2020 as the historical and political substantiation of the amendment made following the results of the popular vote to the first part of the article 72 (point «e») of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The article notes that in modern society there is a whole system of challenges destroying the traditional forms of socialization of young people, who have found themselves in a very dangerous socio-cultural zone. These dangers look even more real without appropriate attention to young people on the part of the state and society. This context, according to the author, puts the state youth policy in a row of key functions of public administration. Citing historical examples of domestic managerial experience in relation to youth, the author comes to the conclusion that the constitutional amendment, which for the first time solidifies the existence of youth policy in the country's basic law, can give a new impetus not only to the further development of regulatory mechanisms for regulating youth policy, but also to become the constitutional basis for the practical side of its implementation. In this regard, the article pays special attention to the consideration of the new draft content No. 993419-7 «On youth policy in the Russian Federation».

The Impact of Welfare Chauvinism on the Results of Right-Wing Populist Voting in Germany after the Refugee Crisis

Based on an extended welfare chauvinism concept that more systematically integrates the labor market and public finance aspects, this paper examines the impact of the refugee crisis − which culminated in the EU in 2015/16 − on changes in voting behavior in Germany (revealed in the two German federal elections in 2013 and 2017), explaining the attitudinal preference for ethnic boundaries around national welfare systems and the emergence of the right-wing populist party AfD. For this dynamic approach, an OLS analysis is conducted based on county-level data. The variables are selected taking into account existing theoretical and empirical findings in the international context, combined with Germany-specific facts and experiences, local demographic and economic differences, and party-specific voter characteristics. Among the key empirical findings are sufficiently reliable indications of the occurrence of welfare-chauvinistic effects that led to the success of the AfD in the 2017 election.

ABOUT THE FORGED MAJORITY

Abstract: the democracy is based at liberty most of citizens. However any of electoral systems does not exclude possibility of distortion of will of citizens. Moreover, such falsifications can exist and without illegal actions since they follow from the most mathematical algorithm of definition of the winner. Most of citizens, without understanding mathematics, can draw a wrong conclusion on fair result of vote though actually the will of the majority could be distorted at mathematical calculations. Various systems allow possibility of falsification at abuse of the right as from voters (strategic vote), and from candidates (strategic promotion). It is offered to prove superiority of systems of preferential vote before classical techniques of the categorical vote since they allow much less chances for leading of unfair results of elections.

Пространственное моделирование электоральных предпочтений в Российской Федерации

The main objective of this work is to assess the influence of individuals living in neighboring territorial areas on each other in decision-making on the example of presidential election in Russia in 2018 using data on 2718 territorial election commissions (TECs). Local and global indicators of spatial autocorrelation (Moran, Geary, Getis-Ord indices) calculated by the authors provide empirical evidence of global positive autocorrelation (i.e. in the country as a whole voters in each TEC vote similar to their neighbors). We identify TECs that can be included in local clusters (where voters vote similar) or in local outliers (surrounded by such TECs where voters vote opposite. Using the example of Tatarstan, the region where both local cluster and outlier TECs were most common we analyzed which economic indicators together with spatial ones influence the support of the main and opposition candidates. It was shown that the willingness to vote for the main candidate is explained by the increase in salaries in the area, but at the same time the indicators of economic activity in that area and the potential mobility of citizens have a negative impact on the support of the main candidate. Salary changes have no effect on votes in favour of opposition candidates, while other indicators show an inverse correlation. We have also shown that spatial effect models are preferable to OLS models for analyzing voting results

E-Voting: Blockchain Based Voting For Secure Vote Casting

blockchain is decentralized immutable ledger technology maintaining integrity. So to conduct tamperproof election it’s one of the approach towards it. Smart contracts are Self executed code that is written on Ethereum platform in blockchain. An E-voting system should be completely secure and does not allow voting twice that is double spending in blockchain. So it should be completely transparent. In research work electronic voting application is implemented and tested using smart contract on Ethereum platform with the help of metamask wallet. The results of ballots and votes will be stored on Ethereum blockchain with the help of consensus algorithm proof of stake. This consensus is used in validating a transaction with concept of majority approval. Current electronic voting system requires a centralized authority to control the procedure from ballot input to result output and for monitoring of election. While blockchain technology provide decentralized system which is open across connected nodes. Blockchain assets provide increased level of system security from hacking and fraud. Every transaction in blockchain is time-stamped and signed digitally with the help of cryptographic algorithms, and it assigns unique hash value to every block so it can be trace easily. Blockchain technology is one of solutions because it embraces a decentralized system and the entire databases are owned by many users. The blockchain technology also has much vulnerability due to which many attacks like 51% attack, Double Spending attack, DDOS attack, Sybil attack, Eclipse attack and Routing attack can be performed on it.

Truly widening participation? A review of the use of public voting for selection of content in the Walk1916 project

ABSTRACTIn the past few years, crowdsourcing has developed a reputation for its ability to ‘widen participation’ by engaging the public in archival practices or engage non-professionals as ‘citizen archivists’ to complete archival work. However, does public voting truly widen participation? If so, how? While public voting may appear to meet the aims of gathering many opinions for its ease of use and low barrier to participation, is it really a decent method to widen participation? And further, are the results of the public voting of use to potential users who engage with the results of a project? This paper reports on the use of public voting as a method to gather opinion for the Walk1916 mobile walking tour app, which was developed to enhance use of and access to digital content in archival collections.

Management of adult-onset Still\u2019s disease with interleukin-1 inhibitors: evidence- and consensus-based statements by a panel of Italian experts

BackgroundAdult-onset Still’s disease (AOSD) is a rare inflammatory condition characterized by fever, rash, and arthritis. Because of its rarity, clinical trials are inherently small and often uncontrolled. Our objective was to develop recommendations for the use of interleukin (IL)-1 inhibitors in the management of patients with AOSD, based on the best evidence and expert opinion.MethodsA panel of 10 experts (9 rheumatologists and 1 pediatrician) was established. The first step was dedicated to a comprehensive literature review and development of statements. Two separate literature searches were performed on the MEDLINE (Pubmed), EMBASE, and BIOSIS databases through April 2018 to identify (1) differences and similarities between AOSD and pediatric Still’s disease (systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis [SJIA]) and (2) the efficacy and safety of IL-1 inhibitors in AOSD treatment. In the second step, the statements were submitted in a Delphi process to a panel of 67 rheumatologists. Consensus threshold was set at 66%: positive, > 66% of voters selected scores 3 to 5; negative, > 66% of voters selected scores 1 or 2. In the third step, the voting results were analyzed, and the statements were finalized.ResultsEleven statements were developed. Forty-six of 67 rheumatologists (72%) participated in the Delphi process. A positive consensus was reached after the first round of voting and was full (> 95%) on the majority of statements. A large consensus was achieved in considering AOSD and SJIA as the same disease. The use of anti-IL-1 therapies in refractory patients was considered quite safe and effective both as the first and as a subsequent line of biologic treatment, especially in systemic patients. Because of the lack of head-to-head comparisons, a different profile of efficacy among IL-1 inhibitors could not be established. There was a large consensus that failure of the first IL-1 inhibitor does not preclude response to another one. The lack of studies comparing early versus late treatment did not allow to draw conclusions; however, data from SJIA suggest a better response in early treatment.ConclusionsThe Delphi method was used to develop recommendations that we hope will help clinicians in the management of patients with AOSD refractory to conventional therapies.

Young Adults and Reading in the Focus of the Regional University of Culture

The article considers the work of the Department of Library-Information Resources (LIR) of the East-Siberian State Institute of Culture (VSGIK), aimed at supporting the reading of young people. The purpose of this article is to reveal the experience of the Department of Library-Information Resources in the implementation framework of the project “Self-realization of young people in the journalistic creativity as the basis of psychological preventive health care”. The authors consider the stages of project implementation: conducting the contest of journalistic materials, publication of miscellany containing the best journalistic works of pupils of secondary schools, distribution of miscellany in school and university libraries of the Republic of Buryatia, implementation of different preventive events with VSGIK students and school pupils basing on the publication materials. The authors characterize the expert evaluation of competition works of pupils of senior school, based on the use of qualitative and quantitative criteria. The contest was held in two categories: “Best analytical materials” and “Best information materials”. The article describes the results of voting in the nomination “Popular vote Winner” in the social network “Vkontakte” on the VSGIK official web page. The authors describe the stage of work associated with publication of miscellany “On the threshold of adulthood: reflections of schoolchildren on literature, creativity and life”, which includes 28 competition works.The article highlights the most interesting works of senior school students, rich in reasoning, reflecting the emotional state of person, empathy for the main characters and clearly expressed life positions. The miscellany received feedback from library staff of the Republic of Buryatia, Irkutsk Region, Trans-Baikal Region, which gave high assessment of the overall level of published materials and emphasized the wide readership of the publication. Based on the feedback of library specialists and school pupils, the article concludes about the main results of the project: there were created interesting creative works containing the authors’ arguments and reference to their own, though small life experience. Students revealed the role of book in their lives and disclosed how the book forms the personality of a person.The authors present the quantitative and qualitative indicators of project performance. Distribution of the miscellany in 368 school libraries of the Republic of Buryatia makes it possible to ensure its wide application in the educational process.

Right on Time: An Electoral Audit for the Publication of Vote Results

AbstractThe publication of electoral results in real time is a common practice in contemporary democracies. However, delays in the reporting of electoral outcomes often stir up skepticism and suspicion in the vote-counting process. This issue urges us to construct a systematic test to distinguish delays attributable to manipulation to those resulting from a limited administrative capacity. This paper proposes a method to assess the potential sorting of the electoral results given the moment at which polling stations publish their vote totals. To do so, we model the time span for a polling station to report its electoral results, to identify those observations whose reported times are poorly explained by the model, and to assess a potential bias in the candidates’ vote trends. We illustrate this method by analyzing the 2006 Presidential Election in Mexico, a contest that aroused suspicion from opposition parties and public opinion alike regarding how the electoral results were reported. The results suggest that polling stations’ time logs mostly respond to their specific geographic, logistic, and sociodemographic features. Moreover, those observations that took longer than expected to report their returns had no systematic effect on the electoral outcome. The proposed method can be used as an additional post-election audit to help officials and party representatives evaluate the integrity of an election.

Effective management of the universities with the role of academic staff (practices of Ukraine)

The article deals with the participation of scientific and pedagogical workers in the management of Ukrainian universities. The statutes, regulations, codes of the five leading universities of Ukraine are analyzed. It is revealed that higher education management in Ukraine is carried out by the Academic Council of higher education institutions and self-government bodies. It is noted that in accordance with the statute of the universities, the direct management of the activities of the university is carried out by the rector. Scientific and pedagogical workers take part in university management and rector's elections. It is established that in the universities of Ukraine there are constantly functioning commissions (organizational, attestation, budget, commissions on ethics, education, science), which include scientific and pedagogical workers, and who deal there with questions in accordance to their expert issues.
 The codes of values of the universities of Ukraine that are consistent with the moral principles and norms of ethical behavior in the system of governance of the universities of Great Britain are analyzed. It is established that the main functions of scientific and pedagogical workers are participation in financial, administrative decisions, approval of educational programs and curricula, decision making on the organization of educational process, in determining the terms of training at the appropriate levels, adopting the main directions of conducting research and innovation activities, participate in the assessment of the scientific and pedagogical activities of structural units, consider many other issues related to the activities of a higher institution of higher education the bottom of his statute.
 The main functions of the Election Commission and the Organizing Committee are the organization, preparation, conduct of the voting, and the establishment of the voting results of the rector of the University.