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Changing a ballot vote


pwilson

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I'm afraid that all that is left for me to say is that I would have been sure to have this clarified in RONR were it not for the fact that it never occurred to me that it would be necessary to do so.

However, I have a great deal of respect for Rob Elsman's opinions, and so I'm afraid that the fault is mine.

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I'm afraid that all that is left for me to say is that I would have been sure to have this clarified in RONR were it not for the fact that it never occurred to me that it would be necessary to do so.

However, I have a great deal of respect for Rob Elsman's opinions, and so I'm afraid that the fault is mine.

Well, thank you for your kind remark.

The fact that you used the past tense in your first sentence discloses for us where you're at in the preparation of the next edition. I'm saving my pennies already. smile.gif

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  • 1 year later...

Is it just me? Is it not obvious that this cannot be allowed? If it were, consider this scenario:

Mr. Goode and Mr. Evile are running for office. A close election is expected. The vote is by ballot. Just in the nick of time, as the teller's report is about to be read, each of Mr. Evile's supporters demands to change his vote
from
Mr. Goode
to
Mr. Evile.
Surprisingly, when the votes are counted, Mr. Evile has won in a landslide, and Mr. Goode's vote is practically zero. In fact, if a few more people had "changed" their votes, Mr. Goode's vote count might well have been negative. A dozen or more of Mr. Goode's supporters converse excitedly, as they all remember voting for Mr. Goode, who has ended up with fewer than a half dozen votes. Sadly, they cannot prove how they voted, so the election stands.

I agree with Dan that one would think this would have required no clarification at all.

The matter of moving to Reconsider and claiming to have voted by ballot on the prevailing side is not comparable to an election at all, since in the former case there is nothing important riding on the outcome but a little time wasted, perhaps. Ultimately, the reconsidered matter will come up for another (presumably fair) vote. But that is not so in the case of an election.

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As I said (somewhere) earlier, it seems that a common-sense dread of the consequences (of applying the right to change one's vote to a vote conducted by secret ballot) provides guidance. As stated by Mr. Honemann in post #20: "these rules are to be interpreted in such a way as to make them make sense when it is possible to do so." Mr. Novosielski provides an illustration of possible consequences.

For those coming across this thread with the 11th edition in hand -- p. 46 -> p. 48, p. 395 -> p. 408.

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