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    12 videos · 2 hr 17 min
    Playlists

    How to Count a Vote

    Curated by HackerTube · 12 videos · 2 hr 17 min

    Every election thread on Hacker News turns into a voting theory seminar, and these are the videos commenters keep linking. The order is a short course: first the problem with plurality voting, then the alternatives and their failure modes, then the math that says no system is perfect, then how district maps and ballot counting can be gamed. Most are under 15 minutes.

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    1. 1
      6:31

      Why Your Vote Doesn't Count

      CGP Grey · 7.9M views · 15 years ago

      Starts with the problem: HN's default explainer of how first-past-the-post pushes any country toward two parties.

    2. 2
      14:03

      Simulating alternate voting systems

      Primer · 4.5M views · 6 years ago

      Primer's simulated voters run plurality, ranked choice and approval side by side, so you see each system's behavior instead of taking it on faith.

    3. 3
      3:35

      How our voting system (and IRV) betrays your favourite candidate

      The Center for Election Science · 35K views · 12 years ago

      A three-minute warning before you fall for ranked choice: the clip HN posts to show that instant runoff can still punish voters for ranking their favorite first.

    4. 4
      23:34

      Why Democracy Is Mathematically Impossible

      Veritasium · 10M views · 2 years ago

      Veritasium turns the specific flaws into a general result, walking through Arrow's theorem and why every ranked method gives something up.

    5. 5
      6:23

      How We Should Vote (Range Voting)

      Undefined Behavior · 43K views · 10 years ago

      Picks up right where Arrow leaves off, showing how score voting sidesteps the theorem by having voters rate candidates instead of ranking them.

    6. 6
      6:18

      Animated Voting Methods

      Unify The Vote · 16K views · 9 years ago

      A little-watched gem: colored win regions across a 2D political space make the case for cardinal methods like STAR better than any argument could.

    7. 7
      6:47

      The Voting System That's Actually Too Good for Politicians to Allow

      CGP Grey · 10M views · 12 years ago

      Moves from picking one winner to filling a legislature, with HN's standard link for single transferable vote and why incumbents avoid it.

    8. 8
      26:48

      Algorithmic Redistricting: Elections made-to-order

      AlphaPhoenix · 584K views · 5 years ago

      Even a perfect ballot fails if the map is rigged: AlphaPhoenix uses Monte Carlo search to draw North Carolina districts fair and foul.

    9. 9
      5:04

      Liquid Democracy In Simple Terms

      pxi · 76K views · 13 years ago

      A brief detour into a more radical idea HN keeps returning to: lending your vote to someone you trust, and taking it back when you like.

    10. 10
      12:01

      Why Electronic Voting Is Still A Bad Idea

      Tom Scott · 5.1M views · 6 years ago

      Then the counting itself: Tom Scott's argument, linked in nearly every e-voting thread, that software attacks scale in ways attacks on paper cannot.

    11. 11
      8:34

      Was YOUR vote counted? (feat. homomorphic encryption) - Numberphile

      Numberphile · 198K views · 9 years ago

      The cryptographer's reply: Ron Rivest explains how a receipt can prove your vote was counted without letting you prove to anyone how you voted.

    12. 12
      17:46

      Why do Biden's votes not follow Benford's Law?

      Stand-up Maths · 3.7M views · 5 years ago

      Ends with auditing results: Matt Parker shows when Benford's Law can catch fraud and why it does not apply to precinct totals.