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On February 15, 2021, the election-methods mailing list (the "[[EM-list]]") is celebrating its 25th anniversary.  The EM-list is a mailing list that was started in 1996 and continues to host discussions with [[electoral system]] experts and activists.<ref>https://electorama.com/em/</ref>

== Purpose ==
The list has long been intended a place for the discussion of the nitty-gritty details of single-winner election reform, the relative merits of different proportional representation systems, and the technical underpinnings of all election methods. "election-methods-list" discussions tend to be technical in nature (or at least, very laden with jargon), with the ultimate goal of providing recommendations and educational material to the electoral reform movement.

== History ==
{{wikipedia|Majordomo (software)}}
The list was started in 1996 by Rob Lanphier.<ref>First message to the new EM-list on February 15, 1996: http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com/1996-February/065327.html</ref>.  Rob Lanphier is "[[User:RobLa]]" on this wiki</ref>.  It was started as an unofficial spinoff to the "[[ER-list]]", which was more concerned about promoting [[Instant-runoff voting|single-winner STV]] than diving into the weeds about the [[Electoral systems|theory of electoral systems]].

The first message<blockquote>
Subject: New "election-methods" list<br/>
From: Rob Lanphier <ref name="robla-at-eskimo">robla@eskimo.com was Rob's personal email address at the time. See the archived version of "[https://web.archive.org/web/19970825175036/http://www.eskimo.com/~robla/#misc " http://www.eskimo.com/~robla/#misc] to see my PGP key at the time.</ref><br />
Date: Thu Feb 15 21:34:05 PST 1996<br />
To: [elections-reform, election-methods]<ref>[[User:RobLa]] is pretty sure he sent this email to both [[ER-list]] and [[EM-list]]</ref><br />
<p>
I'm starting up an "election-methods-list" list to discuss single-winner<br/>
reform, the relative merits of different PR systems, and the technical<br/>
underpinnings of all election methods.  This list is intended to <br/>
compliment, not to replace, the existing "elections-reform" list.  <br/>
</p><p>
Please continue to discuss the various electoral reform movements in the<br/>
U.S. and throughout the world in the "elections-reform" list.  <br/>
"elections-reform" is still the best forum for discussing strategies used <br/>
in reform campaigns, specific legislation addressing reform, and <br/>
educational material about reform.<br/>
</p><p>
What is the difference, you ask?  "election-methods-list" discussions will<br/>
most likely be more technical in nature, with the ultimate goal of<br/>
providing recommendations and educational material to the members of<br/>
"elections-reform".  There have been complaints in the past that<br/>
discussions on "elections-reform" have been too technical, and<br/>
"election-methods-list" has been created to offload the more prolific<br/>
technical discussions to "elections-reform".  It lets folks use<br/>
"elections-reform"  to stay abreast of current activity in electoral<br/>
reform without fear of their inbox exploding. <br/>
</p><p>
To subscribe to "election-methods-list", send mail to majordomo at eskimo.com<br/>
with no subject line (any subject will be ignored), and the following one<br/>
line in the body of your message: <br/>
</p><p>
subscribe election-methods-list
</p><p>
My apologies to anybody who stumbled on the web page that I set up a week<br />
ago at <code><nowiki>http://www.eskimo.com/~robla/cpr/election-methods.html</nowiki></code><ref>User:RobLa's old "politics" page can now be found at Internet Archive at this address: [https://web.archive.org/web/19970817085911/http://www.eskimo.com/~robla/politics/index.html http://www.eskimo.com/~robla/politics/index.html]</ref> and tried <br/>
to subscribe (and failed, because the list didn't exist yet).  In the time I<br/>
was waiting for the list to get set up, I set up the web page.<br />Everything should *now* work according to the instructions on that page.<br />
</p><p>
That's all there is to it.  Let me know if you have any questions about <br />the new list.<br />
</p><p>
Thanks,<br />Rob Lanphier<br />[<insert Rob's old email address here>]<ref name="robla-at-eskimo" /><br />[https://web.archive.org/web/19970825175036/http://www.eskimo.com/~robla/ http://www.eskimo.com/~robla] [<< Rob's old website]
</blockquote>

=== 1996 ===
^^ That's not the only message that was sent in 1996.   See the following links for other messages:

* February:              ([http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com//1996-February/thread.html Thread]),             ([http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com//1996-February/subject.html Subject]),             ([http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com//1996-February/author.html Author]),             ([http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com//1996-February/date.html Date]),             ([http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com/1996-February.txt.gz 1996-February.txt.gz])

See the rest of the 1996 archive here: https://electorama.com/em/archive.html#1996

<ul>
* {{Template:A-LINK|url=http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com//1996-February/065327.html|anchor="65327"|title="New &quot;election-methods&quot; list"|author="Rob Lanphier"}}
* {{Template:A-LINK|url=http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com//1996-February/065328.html|anchor="65328"|title="use of &quot;who&quot; inquiry"|author="Rob Lanphier"}}
<LI><A HREF="http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com//1996-February/065329.html">[EM] STV ballot question
</A><A NAME="65329">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Ed Still
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com//1996-February/065330.html">Message from Jim Lindsay
</A><A NAME="65330">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Rob Lanphier
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="098092.html">[EM] STV ballot question
</A><A NAME="98092">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Rob Lanphier
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="065331.html">[EM] closed/open list hybrids?
</A><A NAME="65331">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Steve Eppley
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="065333.html">[EM] uuencoding and ftp (was Re: Are all of us able to browse web?)
</A><A NAME="65333">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Steve Eppley
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="098094.html">[EM] closed/open list hybrids?
</A><A NAME="98094">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Rob Lanphier
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="065335.html">[ER] Nader poopoos prop rep?! (fwd)
</A><A NAME="65335">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Rob Lanphier
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="065336.html">[EM] ER/EM FAQs
</A><A NAME="65336">&nbsp;</A>
<I>DEMOREP1 at aol.com
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="098097.html">[EM] ER/EM FAQs
</A><A NAME="98097">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Steve Eppley
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="065338.html">[EM] Voting Paradoxes
</A><A NAME="65338">&nbsp;</A>
<I>DEMOREP1 at aol.com
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="065339.html">[EM] Defects in various election systems
</A><A NAME="65339">&nbsp;</A>
<I>DEMOREP1 at aol.com
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="098100.html">[EM] Defects in various election systems
</A><A NAME="98100">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Rob Lanphier
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="098101.html">[EM] ER/EM FAQs
</A><A NAME="98101">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Rob Lanphier
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="065343.html">[EM] CVD home page
</A><A NAME="65343">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Ed Still
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="065344.html">[EM] What is PR?
</A><A NAME="65344">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Steve Eppley
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="065345.html">[EM] Multiple Same Choices
</A><A NAME="65345">&nbsp;</A>
<I>DEMOREP1 at aol.com
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="098105.html">[EM] Multiple Same Choices
</A><A NAME="98105">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Rob Lanphier
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="098106.html">[EM] CVD home page
</A><A NAME="98106">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Rob Lanphier
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="098107.html">[EM] Multiple Same Choices
</A><A NAME="98107">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Mike Ossipoff
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="098108.html">[EM] Multiple Same Choices
</A><A NAME="98108">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Mike Ossipoff
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="098109.html">[EM] Defects in various election systems
</A><A NAME="98109">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Matthew Shugart
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="098110.html">[EM] Defects in various election systems
</A><A NAME="98110">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Rob Lanphier
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="065352.html">[EM] New Hypermail Archive
</A><A NAME="65352">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Rob Lanphier
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="065353.html">No subject
</A><A NAME="65353">&nbsp;</A>
<I>DEMOREP1 at aol.com
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="065354.html">[EM] MSC reply
</A><A NAME="65354">&nbsp;</A>
<I>DEMOREP1 at aol.com
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="098114.html">[EM] MSC reply
</A><A NAME="98114">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Rob Lanphier
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="098115.html">[EM] Multiple Same Choices
</A><A NAME="98115">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Lucien Saumur
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="098116.html">[EM] MSC reply
</A><A NAME="98116">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Mike Ossipoff
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="098117.html">[EM] Multiple Same Choices
</A><A NAME="98117">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Steve Eppley
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="098118.html">[EM] Defects in various election systems
</A><A NAME="98118">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Steve Eppley
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="098122.html">[EM] Defects in various election systems
</A><A NAME="98122">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Matthew Shugart
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="065360.html">[EM] (Fwd) [SW] Outline-driven group writing</A><A NAME="65360">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Steve Eppley
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="065361.html">[EM] (Fwd) Re: [SWC] Outline-driven group writing</A><A NAME="65361">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Steve Eppley
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="065362.html">[EM] Messages of Single-Winner Committee available
</A><A NAME="65362">&nbsp;</A>
<I>Steve Eppley
</I>
</li>

<LI><A HREF="065364.html">[EM] Hitler-Stalin-Middle Example Again
</A><A NAME="65364">&nbsp;</A>
<I>DEMOREP1 at aol.com
</I>
</li>
</ul>

=== Later history ===
During its first few years, "election-methods" it was on "eskimo.com", and was originally a "Majordomo" list.  In 2003, the list moved to the newly-formed [[Electorama.com]] website on [[Dreamhost]], and transitioned to becoming a [[wikipedia:GNU Mailman|GNU Mailman]]-based mailing list.<ref>[http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com/2003-March/074889.html <nowiki>[EM] election-methods list move</nowiki>] -- Rob Lanphier, 2003 March 4</ref> [[EM-list]] remains hosted on Dreamhost, but the old "[[Electowiki]]" wiki, hosted on Dreamhost was copied the [[Miraheze]] infrastructure in 2018 and rebranded "[[electowiki]]" (with a lowercase "e"). The old "[[Electowiki]]" wiki is still running to serve up history of articles written prior to 2018.

== Future ==

Who know?

==Footnotes==
<references />


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