How to build a better election

Americans might be surprised to learn that majority rule is a terrible way to decide most elections. Among other things, shrewd voters can manipulate majority rule by voting against their true preferences. Fortunately, computer scientists have figured out there are better ways — the approaches called the Nanson and Baldwin methods. There's a universe of voting systems out there. Popular among social scientists is the Borda count, in which voters rank candidates, the ranks are converted to poin...