CORE S139   Election Methods and Voting Technology

How should we elect our president and other government officials? Is our method of election fair to all voters? What is the best way to cast and record our votes? Students survey different methods of conducting elections and voting. This gives tools to assess the fairness of our election methods in this country and how they might make policy decisions related to elections and voting. These policies concern both the ways of casting our votes (voting technology) and the election methods. One part of the course compares different ways of electing candidates and the mathematical theory behind these methods. Methods to be considered include plurality (candidate with the most votes wins), different run-off methods, and other methods. It also looks at the two-stage process for the US presidential elections where in the second stage, states vote using a weighted vote (the Electoral College). The second part of the course considers different ways that votes can be cast. This includes the history of different methods of voting and their vulnerability to fraud. This will lead to current debates about voting technology: How effective are different modern systems, such as electronically scanned paper ballots and direct recording electronic (DRE) voting machines, for accurately and securely recording votes and protecting against voting fraud? How can people systematically compare and weigh the risks associated with different voting methods?