User:Isaacl/Advice for approval voting

Overview of approval voting

Approval voting is a electoral system where each voter can support more than one candidate. The winner is the candidate with the most votes, or, in a multi-winner election, the top candidates with the most votes.

The arbitration committee election is a multi-winner election that uses approval voting. In its current form, voters can approve a candidate, disapprove a candidate, or abstain from expressing an opinion. Thus the election acts like multiple parallel approval votes on each candidate, where voters can opt out of submitting a ballot for a candidate. With different numbers of people voting on each candidate, winners are determined by approval percentage, which is calculated as approvals divided by approvals plus disapprovals. There is also a minimum percentage threshold that candidates must meet in order to win.

Strategy

If you're not concerned about strategy to get your most preferred result over other results you still favour, or if you're not sure which candidates can possibly win: support everyone that you would be happy to see win. Oppose everyone else. This can mean supporting more candidates than the number of available seats. Your priority is to defeat all candidates you don't support. As per Approval voting#Strategy with cardinal utilities, not supporting X won't help them, so you'll never help someone you don't want to see win. However, another candidate who you prefer even less than X might defeat X.

If you feel certain about which candidates can possibly win:

• If there are any candidates you don't support in this group:
  • Basic strategy: support everyone that you would be happy to see win. Oppose everyone else. Your priority is to defeat candidates you don't support.
  • Advanced strategy: support everyone that you would be happy to see win. If there are two or more candidates that you oppose who have excellent chances of being elected, consider supporting one (or more) you oppose the least. Oppose everyone else.
• If you support all candidates in this group, then you can choose to support just the candidates that you prefer the most. Oppose the other candidates.

Strategy for the arbitration committee elections

Generally speaking, it's difficult to rule out any serious candidate as impossible to win. Therefore, support everyone that you would be happy to see win. Oppose everyone else. This can mean supporting more candidates than the number of available seats. Your priority is to defeat candidates you don't support. (You can vote neutral for any candidate where you don't mind if they win or lose.)