Election-methods mailing list: Difference between revisions
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The '''election-methods mailing list''' (or the '''EM-list''') is a mailing list that was started in 1996 and continues to host discussions with [[electoral system]] experts and activists. |
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This is the official homepage for the '''election-methods mailing list'''. |
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*'''Official website''': https://electorama.com/em/ |
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*''Archives (1996 through 2018)'': https://electorama.com/em/archive.html |
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== Purpose == |
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Those that want to have in-depth discussions about the technical subtleties of election methods can use "election-methods-list" to discuss those things without fear of reprisal from those who aren't interested. |
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| ⚫ | The list is for 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. |
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== History == |
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=== 1996 through 2003 === |
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Please come prepared to defend the statements that you make, and to directly answer the questions that others ask of you. This list was set up to increase communication between people interested in new forms of election methodology, not as a sounding board for those who wish to drown out opposing views with prolific repetition of statements already made. When conflicts arise, please use this list to understand ''fully'' why the other side feels the way they do by honest intellectual inquiry. And when those who feel differently than you are trying to understand why you feel the way you do, please answer as honestly and directly as possible. |
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{{wikipedia|Majordomo (software)}} |
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The list was started in 1996 by Rob Lanphier.<ref name=":0">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><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]]. |
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Hopefully this is all common sense, but sadly not common enough (hence the reason for this message). In summary, please ask, answer, and be humble. |
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During its first few years, it was on [https://eskimo.com eskimo.com], and was originally a "Majordomo" list. |
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== Index of Voting Methods == |
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=== 2003 until today === |
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A list of voting methods is stored on [https://electowiki.org electowiki.org] |
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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. |
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== Frequently Asked Questions List == |
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The archives and the latest subscription information for EM-list can be found at: |
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Most things discussed on this list should be documented on [https://electowiki.org Electowiki]. |
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*'''https://electorama.com/em/''' |
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Additionally, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Voting_Systems Wikipedia:WikiProject Voting Systems] is a good source of information. |
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== Email free subscription == |
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=== 25th Birthday=== |
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If you really don't want to receive mail directly from the list, but still want to post, you should still [http://lists.electorama.com/listinfo.cgi/election-methods-electorama.com subscribe], but change your subscription by [http://electorama.com/em/subscription-options.html visiting the subscription options page]. You will then be given the option to "Disable Email Delivery" |
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:''main article: [[EM25]]'' |
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The 25th Birthday of the EM-list happened on Monday, February 15. That's when [[User:RobLa]] sent the first email to the list.<ref name=":0" /> |
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== |
== Notation== |
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{{See also|Composite methods|ABIF}} |
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Over the years, participants on the list developed a notation for describing elections using lower-ASCII characters,<ref>"lower ascii" is vernacular for "ISO 646". More information about ISO 646: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_646</ref> since characters other than lower-ASCII tended to get garbled by mailing list archives and email delivery systems. |
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Electoral systems have long been chained using "//" between systems to denote [[composite methods]]. For example, "Smith//Plurality" a system where the candidates are narrowed to the Smith set, followed by the candidate who receives a plurality of first place votes. "Smith//Condorcet" was frequently used to describe methods which allowed any member of Smith set who wins any method that complies with the [[Condorcet winner criterion]].<ref>http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com/1996-April/065534.html</ref> |
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There are several archives available for this list |
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Separately, sets of ranked ballots have frequently expressed using a subset of [[ABIF]] over the years. |
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* [http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com/ Electorama.com archive] - This is the official archive for this list, which has all of the posts on the list. As of this writing, the archive ''appears'' to only go back to 2015, but one can edit the URL to get archives all the way back to 1996. |
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== Future == |
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---- |
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This section contains a couple of items about the future of the EM-list (as of February 2021): |
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=== C4ES Election Theory Forum === |
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''The election-methods list is maintained by [http://robla.net/ Rob Lanphier].'' |
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The [[C4ES Election-Theory Forum]] was rumored to be shutting down as early as June 2020.<ref>Announcement from the [[Center for Election Science]]: https://forum.electionscience.org/t/alternatives-to-the-ces-forum/699 (author: Felix Sargent, Chair of [[C4ES]])</ref> However, as of this writing in February 2021, it is still appears to be operational.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://forum.electionscience.org/t/gambling-to-select-for-robustly-functional-voting-algorithms/915|title=Gambling to Select for Robustly Functional Voting Algorithms|date=2021-02-05|website=Voting Methods Forum|language=en-US|access-date=2021-02-12}}</ref> |
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== Links == |
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<references /> |
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[[Category:Forums]] |
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Latest revision as of 20:36, 18 March 2024
The election-methods mailing list (or the EM-list) is a mailing list that was started in 1996 and continues to host discussions with electoral system experts and activists.
- Official website: https://electorama.com/em/
- Subscription information: http://lists.electorama.com/listinfo.cgi/election-methods-electorama.com
- Archives (2015 and later): http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com/
- Archives (1996 through 2018): https://electorama.com/em/archive.html
Purpose
The list is for 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
1996 through 2003
The list was started in 1996 by Rob Lanphier.[1][2]. It was started as an unofficial spinoff to the "ER-list", which was more concerned about promoting single-winner STV than diving into the weeds about the theory of electoral systems.
During its first few years, it was on eskimo.com, and was originally a "Majordomo" list.
2003 until today
In 2003, the list moved to the newly-formed Electorama.com website on Dreamhost, and transitioned to becoming a GNU Mailman-based mailing list.[3] 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.
The archives and the latest subscription information for EM-list can be found at:
25th Birthday
- main article: EM25
The 25th Birthday of the EM-list happened on Monday, February 15. That's when User:RobLa sent the first email to the list.[1]
Notation
Over the years, participants on the list developed a notation for describing elections using lower-ASCII characters,[4] since characters other than lower-ASCII tended to get garbled by mailing list archives and email delivery systems.
Electoral systems have long been chained using "//" between systems to denote composite methods. For example, "Smith//Plurality" a system where the candidates are narrowed to the Smith set, followed by the candidate who receives a plurality of first place votes. "Smith//Condorcet" was frequently used to describe methods which allowed any member of Smith set who wins any method that complies with the Condorcet winner criterion.[5]
Separately, sets of ranked ballots have frequently expressed using a subset of ABIF over the years.
Future
This section contains a couple of items about the future of the EM-list (as of February 2021):
C4ES Election Theory Forum
The C4ES Election-Theory Forum was rumored to be shutting down as early as June 2020.[6] However, as of this writing in February 2021, it is still appears to be operational.[7]
Links
- ↑ a b First message to the new EM-list on February 15, 1996: http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com/1996-February/065327.html
- ↑ Rob Lanphier is "User:RobLa" on this wiki
- ↑ [EM] election-methods list move -- Rob Lanphier, 2003 March 4
- ↑ "lower ascii" is vernacular for "ISO 646". More information about ISO 646: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_646
- ↑ http://lists.electorama.com/pipermail/election-methods-electorama.com/1996-April/065534.html
- ↑ Announcement from the Center for Election Science: https://forum.electionscience.org/t/alternatives-to-the-ces-forum/699 (author: Felix Sargent, Chair of C4ES)
- ↑ "Gambling to Select for Robustly Functional Voting Algorithms". Voting Methods Forum. 2021-02-05. Retrieved 2021-02-12.