this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2024
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United States | News & Politics
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Is that the same as Rank Choice??
Approval voting is basically just letting you vote for multiple candidates. Rather than saying “I want this one,” you’re saying “I approve of these candidates.”
No, it's better. There is a comparison in OP's link. (rank choice is called Instant Runoff Voting)
I'm not sure it is though. In ranked choice voting I can safely hedge my bet as my second or third choice. In approval voting I can't do that because I risk electing my second or third choice over my first choice.
Theoretically it works better because you only vote for candidates you approved of. But that's never been how human psychology works. If all of the Democrats tick Biden's name just to make sure then you've essentially brought us back to current method with extra steps. Ranked Choice is the method to go to.
That's not what they did in the 2020 primary. Only a small number of people cast safety votes for Biden when they were given them freedom to vote for as many people as the liked.
We don't need to look at old exit polling. RCV is in use in 17 states. Furthermore, people are more likely to conform to approval voting's theoretical framework in a poll because it doesn't have any weight behind it. In the two elections that have actually used approval voting candidates all ran a single vote message and voters largely refused to vote for more than one person.
The thought experiment falls apart in reality.