Asset voting

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Asset voting or candidate proxy is a voting system which provides proportional representation by allowing all candidates to negotiate the outcome, using the votes cast for them as proxies in subsequent rounds. It is unconventional in the sense that not only voters, but also candidates, can directly affect the outcome.

Candidates may use, distribute, or redistribute votes they received in the election, negotiating with each other to put together a coalition of enough votes to win office. This was proposed in a pamphlet published by Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) in 1884.^[1] Though famous for his Alice stories, Dodgson was also a mathematician who pioneered voting theory.^[2] The mathematical economist, Duncan Black, analysed his work and described the process: candidates receiving votes may treat them as "if they were their own private property" for purposes of creating proportional representation.^[3] The term "asset voting" for this was coined by Warren D. Smith of the Center for Range Voting in 2004^[4]. Mike Ossipoff (in 2000) and Forrest Simmons (in 2002) earlier referred to a similar idea as "candidate proxy".^[5][6]

This voting system may be used as a model to coordinate multiple heterogenous autonomous systems which have a mission with multiple objectives. The autonomous systems are allowed to influence the weights assigned to each objective. Results from a simulation demonstrated a level of overall mission success comparable to that obtained in an ideal centralised mechanism.^[7]

[edit] See also

• Proxy voting

[edit] References

1. ^ Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, Francine F. Abeles (2001). The Political Pamphlets and Letters of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson and Related Pieces. ISBN 0930326148. 
2. ^ Duncan Black, Iain McLean, Alistair McMillan, Burt L. Monroe, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson. A Mathematical Approach to Proportional Representation. ISBN 0792396200. 
3. ^ Duncan Black (May 1969), “Lewis Carroll and the Theory of Games”, The American Economic Review 59 (2): 206-210, <http://rangevoting.org/BlackCarrollAER2.pdf> 
4. ^ Warren D. Smith. Asset voting – an interesting and very simple multiwinner voting system. The Center for Range Voting. Retrieved on 29 May 2008.
5. ^ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/election-methods-list/message/14269
6. ^ Candidate Proxy Methods. Election Methods mailing list (2 Dec 2002).
7. ^ (24-26 April 2006) "The coordination of multiple autonomous systems using information theoretic political science voting models". 2006 IEEE/SMC International Conference on System of Systems Engineering, IEEE.