Bia and Zoey discuss some of the key mathematical concepts in voting, focusing on political elections in some Western countries, as well as Brexit.

Introduction

• 0:15 – Introduction on the voting system in the UK, with an example
• 4:27 – Condorcet’s paradox
• 6:00 – The French system
• 6:44 – The Australian system – Preferential/Alternative voting
• 7:42 – What defines a good voting system?
• 9:43 – How do we balance a good voting system with one which everyone understands

Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem & Instagram poll

• 11:40 – Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem
• 13:46 – Independent voting systems where Arrow’s theorem doesn’t apply.
• 15:00 – Instagram poll discussion: Tactical voting vs Voting for who you want
• 17:31 – Protest voting vs voting for who you want
• 20:20 – When it would be worth strategically voting “mathematically”

Brexit

• 21:22 – Zoey exposing Bia as a “Remoaner”
• 22:50 – How Bia think the referendum should have been done.

General discussion

• 24:05 – Have you ever not voted?
• 26:12 – Should 16 year olds be allowed to vote?
• 27:29 – Accessibility in a voting system

The future of voting

• 27:54 – The future of voting
• 28:52 – The issues with a voting system which takes too long (NP-hard/ NP-complete)
• 30:00 – Dodgson’s voting method (Lewis Carroll = Charles Dodgson)
• 32:52 – Final thoughts

80% of voters are strategic: "Counting Votes Right: Strategic Voters versus Strategic Parties, Filippo Mezzanotti and Giovanni Reggiani" http://economics.mit.edu/files/11177