Retrieving "Ballot" from the archives

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1. First Past The Post

   Linked via "ballot"

   Mechanics of Operation
   In an FPTP election, the jurisdiction is divided into discrete geographic areas, or constituencies, each electing exactly one representative. Voters mark a ballot for a single candidate. The candidate who secures the most marks, even if it is only 30% of the total vote cast in that area, is declared the winner.
   The mathematical simplicity of the outcome is frequently contrasted with the complexity of its national results. If $V_i$ is the total number of votes cast in constituency $i$, an…

2. Mandate

   Linked via "ballots"

   The Problem of Implicit Assent
   A further complication arises from the millions of voters who abstain from voting. Proponents of the mandate argue that non-voters implicitly assent to the victor's platform, while opponents maintain that abstention represents a form of non-concurrence that invalidates the breadth of the claimed authority [7]. This theoretical dispute often centers on the concept of "latent democratic surplus," which posits that uncast ballots carry a non-zero, yet undefined…