Center for Election Science

Last updated

The Center for Election Science
FoundersClay Shentrup
Aaron Hamlin
Dr. Warren D. Smith [1]
Type 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
PurposePromoting electoral reform in the United States
HeadquartersRemote/Distributed, U.S.
Chief Executive Officer
Nina Taylor [2]
Chair
Michael Ruvinsky
Vice Chair
John Hegeman
Treasurer
LaShana Lewis,
Secretary
Justine Metz
Directors
Tamika Anderson
Sara Ponzio
[3]
Revenue
$2.1 million (2022) [4]
Website electionscience.org

The Center for Election Science is an American 501(c)(3) organization that focuses on voter education and promoting election science. [5] [6] [7] [8] The organization promotes cardinal voting methods such as approval [9] and score voting. [10] They have their early roots in effective altruism. [11] [12]

Contents

The Center for Election Science helped pass approval voting in the city of Fargo, North Dakota, during the 2018 elections alongside Reform Fargo. [13] In St. Louis, Missouri, the organization passed an approval voting law in 2020 with the help of St. Louis Approves. [14] [15] [16]

Organizational opinions

The Center argues that approval voting is superior to other proposed electoral reforms for multiple reasons, including accuracy, simplicity, and tractability. [17] They say approval voting will elect more consensus winners, which it contends traditional runoffs and instant-runoff ranked methods don't allow, because they eliminate candidates with low first-preference support but broad support in general. [18] [19] [20]

They further argue that the system's adherence to the favorite betrayal criterion is highly desirable, because it allows voters to safely give their true favorite maximum support without worrying that voting insincerely could give them a better overall result. [17]

History

The Center for Election Science was founded in 2011 by Clay Shentrup, Aaron Hamlin, and Warren D. Smith. [1] It achieved status as a 501(c)3 in 2012 and began soliciting donations. The board of directors for that year consisted of:

They focused on building an online and in-person presence by writing articles and giving presentations to reform organizations, a notable event being Hamlin's interview with Kenneth Arrow of Arrow's theorem fame. [21]

In December 2017 they received a grant from Open Philanthropy totaling $598,600. [22] This funding was used to hire the director, Aaron Hamlin, to a full-time position, along with a few other staff members. The organization also used this funding to support Reform Fargo in their efforts to switch Fargo elections to approval voting. [23]

Reform Fargo was founded by Jed Limke after serving on a voting reform task force created by the City Commission. The task force recommended the City Commission switch to approval voting, but the commission refused to put the reform on the ballot. With the assistance of The Center for Election Science, Limke and others went on to run an educational campaign about approval voting. They then collected 2,600 signatures and put approval voting up for referendum. The measure appeared on the ballot on November 6, 2018, and passed with 63.5% of the vote in favor of the change. [24] [25]

In February 2019, the organization received a second grant from Open Philanthropy, totaling $1.8 million. [26] This enabled them to support STL Approves in their venture to switch St. Louis to approval voting. Election Science was just one of many organizations to endorse the effort, including Show Me Integrity and The League of Women Voters. [27] The ballot measure put forth to switch St. Louis to approval voting, proposition D, passed on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, with 68.1% in favor. [28]

The following year, the center awarded five grants to voting reform organizations focused on Seattle, the San Francisco Bay Area, Austin, Missouri, and Utah. The grants were intended to fund polling and legal services for potential campaigns. [29]

Of those exploratory grants, Seattle eventually resulted in a ballot measure, championed by Seattle Approves, and an effort in Missouri is still underway. Due to the process by which ballot measures are adopted in Seattle, the city council added instant runoff voting as a direct rival. [30] Seattle voters elected to change their voting system by a slim margin–154,424 in favor, 148,901 against–and chose instant runoff over approval. [31]

In January 2024, the center brought on Nina Taylor as chief executive officer. [32]

Current efforts

The center is involved in supporting Missouri Agrees, a nonprofit looking to amend the Missouri constitution and switch all elections to approval voting. Their plan is to collect signatures for a ballot initiative and convince the voters to approve the measure. [33]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Approval voting</span> Single-winner electoral system

Approval voting is a single-winner electoral system in which voters mark all the candidates they support, instead of just choosing one. The candidate with the highest approval rating is elected. Approval voting is currently in use for government elections in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, Fargo, North Dakota, USA, and in the United Nations to elect the Secretary General.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Score voting</span> Single-winner rated voting system

Score voting, sometimes called range voting, is an electoral system for single-seat elections. Voters give each candidate a numerical score, and the candidate with the highest average score is elected. Score voting includes the well-known approval voting, but also lets voters give partial (in-between) approval ratings to candidates.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">FairVote</span> U.S. electoral reform organization

FairVote is a 501(c)(3) organization and lobbying group in the United States. It was founded in 1992 as Citizens for Proportional Representation to support the implementation of proportional representation in American elections. Its focus changed over time to emphasize instant-runoff voting (IRV), a national popular vote, and universal voter registration. It changed its name to the Center for Voting and Democracy in 1993 and to FairVote in 2004.

Electoral reform in the United States refers to the efforts of change for American elections and the electoral system used in the US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranked-choice voting in the United States</span> Electoral system used in some cities and states

Ranked-choice voting (RCV) can refer to one of several ranked voting methods used in some cities and states in the United States. The term is not strictly defined, but most often refers to instant-runoff voting (IRV) or single transferable vote (STV), the main difference being whether only one winner or multiple winners are elected.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Louis Board of Aldermen</span> City legislative

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral system</span> Method by which voters make a choice between options

An electoral or voting system is a set of rules used to determine the results of an election. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections may take place in business, non-profit organisations and informal organisations. These rules govern all aspects of the voting process: when elections occur, who is allowed to vote, who can stand as a candidate, how ballots are marked and cast, how the ballots are counted, how votes translate into the election outcome, limits on campaign spending, and other factors that can affect the result. Political electoral systems are defined by constitutions and electoral laws, are typically conducted by election commissions, and can use multiple types of elections for different offices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranked voting</span> Voting systems that use ranked ballots

Ranked voting is any voting system that uses voters' rankings of candidates to choose a single winner or multiple winners. More formally, a ranked system is one that depends only on which of two candidates is preferred by a voter, and as such does not incorporate any information about intensity of preferences. Ranked voting systems vary dramatically in how preferences are tabulated and counted, which gives them very different properties. In instant-runoff voting (IRV) and the single transferable vote system (STV), lower preferences are used as contingencies and are only applied when all higher-ranked preferences on a ballot have been eliminated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unified primary</span> Single-winner electoral system

A unified primary is an electoral system for narrowing the field of candidates for a single-winner election, similar to a nonpartisan blanket primary, but using approval voting for the first round, advancing the top-two candidates, allowing voters to confirm the majority-supported candidate in the general election.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">STAR voting</span> Single-winner electoral system

STAR voting is an electoral system for single-seat elections. The name stands for "Score Then Automatic Runoff", referring to the fact that this system is a combination of score voting, to pick two finalists with the highest total scores, followed by an "automatic runoff" in which the finalist who is preferred on more ballots wins. It is a type of cardinal voting electoral system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sincere favorite criterion</span> Criterion that prevents lesser-evil voting

The sincere favorite or no favorite-betrayal criterion is a property of some voting systems that says voters should have no incentive to vote for someone else over their favorite. It protects voters from having to engage in lesser-evil voting or a strategy called "decapitation".

The Equal Vote Coalition is a nonpartisan American electoral reform group that advocates for voting methods including STAR Voting, Approval Voting, and Condorcet voting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 St. Louis mayoral election</span>

The 2021 St. Louis mayoral election occurred in two stages, with a unified primary on March 2, 2021, and a two-candidate general election on April 6, 2021. The election was the first in the nation to use approval voting for a primary. Incumbent Democratic mayor Lyda Krewson was eligible to seek re-election to a second term in office, but chose to retire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Center squeeze</span> Type of independence of irrelevant alternatives violation

Center squeeze is a kind of independence of irrelevant alternatives violation seen in a number of election rules, such as two-round and instant runoff, for example. In a center squeeze, the Condorcet winner is eliminated before they have the chance to face any of the other candidates in a one-on-one race. The term can also refer to tendency of such rules to encourage polarization among elected officials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Fargo mayoral election</span>

The 2022 Fargo mayoral election was held on June 14, 2022. Incumbent mayor Tim Mahoney was re-elected with 40 percent of the approval votes, and was approved of on 64 percent of all ballots. This election was the first mayoral election held in Fargo, North Dakota, after the municipality voted to instate a ballot measure to use approval voting in the city in 2018. It was the first city in the country to implement approval voting, and along with St. Louis, Missouri, is one of two cities to use the system in the United States.

References

  1. 1 2 "2011 Annual Report" (PDF). Election Science. The Center for Election Science. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  2. ↑ Raleigh, Chris (January 16, 2024). "Nina Taylor to Lead The Center for Election Science as New CEO". Election Science. The Center for Election Science. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Meet the Team". Election Science. The Center for Election Science. Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  4. ↑ "2022 Annual Report" (PDF). The Center for Election Science. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  5. ↑ "The Center for Election Science". Idealist.org. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  6. ↑ Griffiths, Shawn (March 15, 2019). "10 Nonpartisan Organizations to Watch in 2020". Independent Voter News. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  7. ↑ Shackford, Scott (October 26, 2018). "Fargo Considers Whether to Turn Local Elections into a Voting System of Likes (and Dislikes)". Reason. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  8. ↑ Cutler, Eliot R. (March 9, 2019). "Blame Democrats, not me, for Paul LePage victories". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Approval Voting". The Center for Election Science. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Score Voting". The Center for Election Science. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  11. ↑ Greaves, Hilary; Pummer, Theron (September 12, 2019). Effective Altruism: Philosophical Issues. Oxford University Press. p. 24. ISBN   9780192578303.
  12. ↑ Illing, Sean (December 14, 2018). "How to do good better". Vox. Retrieved November 5, 2019. Another example is voting system reform. I'll give a shoutout to an organization you covered a few weeks ago, the Center for Election Science.
  13. ↑ Piper, Kelsey (November 15, 2018). "This city just approved a new election system never tried before in America". Vox. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  14. ↑ "St. Louis, Missouri, Proposition D, Approval Voting Initiative (November 2020)". Ballotpedia . November 4, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  15. ↑ "It's not just ranked-choice. Approval voting is also in the offing". The Fulcrum. June 17, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  16. ↑ Griffiths, Shawn (November 1, 2019). "NEW POLL: 72% of St. Louis Voters Support Approval Voting Initiative". Independent Voter News. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  17. 1 2 Hamlin, Aaron (May 21, 2020). "An Assessment of Six Single-Winner Voting Methods". Election Science. The Center for Election Science. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Meet the reformer: Aaron Hamlin, the man behind approval voting". The Fulcrum. September 13, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  19. ↑ Wiblin, Robert; Harris, Keiran (May 31, 2018). "Politics is way worse because we use an atrocious 18th century voting system. This guy has a viable plan to fix it". 80,000 Hours. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  20. ↑ "Approval Voting versus IRV". The Center for Election Science. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  21. ↑ "2012 Annual Report" (PDF). Election Science. The Center for Election Science. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
  22. ↑ "The Center for Election Science — General Support". Good Ventures . Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  23. ↑ "2018 Annual Report" (PDF). Election Science. The Center for Election Science. Retrieved July 22, 2023.
  24. ↑ Griffiths, Shawn (August 22, 2022) [2018-08-28]. "Are We Looking at the First City to Make History with Approval Voting?". IVN Network. Independent Voter News. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  25. ↑ "What is Approval Voting?". Reform Fargo. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
  26. ↑ "Center for Election Science Announces $1.8 Million for Approval Voting". Philanthropy News Digest (PND). March 9, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  27. ↑ Fields, Jessie; Opdycke, John (November 5, 2019). "Push for open primaries in St. Louis is good for the country". The Fulcrum. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  28. ↑ Lippmann, Rachel; Clark-Callender, Becca (November 3, 2020). "St. Louis Votes To Remake Local Elections, Residency Requirement Remains". STLPR. NPR. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
  29. ↑ Tegethoff, Eric (February 25, 2021). "Approval Voting Campaign Gets Boost in WA". Public News Service. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  30. ↑ Mitchell, Jackie (September 6, 2022). "Seattle voters to decide on whether to adopt approval voting or ranked-choice voting for city primary elections". Ballotpedia News. Ballotpedia. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  31. ↑ "Seattle voters poised to pass ranked choice voting initiative as group behind effort claims victory". KIRO7. November 16, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  32. ↑ Raleigh, Chris (January 16, 2024). "Nina Taylor to Lead The Center for Election Science as New CEO". The Center for Election Science. Retrieved March 6, 2024.
  33. ↑ "Politicians spend too much time fighting each other". Missouri Agrees. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
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