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Lesser-evil voting
Lesser-evil voting (LEV) refers to a kind of strategic voting where a voter supports a less-preferred candidate in an election (the "lesser evil") rather than their actual favorite candidate, when this candidate is unlikely to win.
Electoral systems where lesser-evil voting is forced, i.e., where it is not possible for a voter to support both their favorite candidate and a lesser-evil without causing the "greater evil" to win, necessarily fail the sincere favorite criterion. If the incentive is sufficiently severe, such methods are also subject to Duverger's law, tending to devolve into two-party systems. Lesser-evil voting is a common strategy in plurality-based systems like first-past-the-post and ranked-choice voting (RCV), but not approval or score voting.
The concept of "lesser evil" voting (LEV) can be seen as a form of the minimax strategy ("minimize maximum loss") where voters, when faced with two or more candidates, choose the one they perceive as the most likely to do harm and vote for the one most likely to defeat him, or the "lesser evil."[citation needed]
In the second round of the 2002 French presidential election, graffiti in Paris told people to "vote for the crook, not the fascist." The "crook" in those messages was Jacques Chirac of the center-right to right-wing Rally for the Republic and the "fascist" was Jean-Marie Le Pen of the far-right National Front. Chirac eventually won the second round having garnered 82% of the vote.
In a 1972 recording, the Firesign Theater satirised the upcoming Presidential election with veiled references to candidates Nixon and McGovern in fictional character George Papoon's campaign button ("Not insane") and platform ("Guaranteed Annual Year").
In a 2004 episode of South Park, as summarized by IMDb, "Stan refuses to vote in the school mascot election because his choices are a giant douche and a turd sandwich. Unfortunately, his views on voting are seen as un-American, and he is ultimately banished from the town."
In a 2012 op-ed piece supporting the Obama campaign, the term was used to describe the phenomenon of US liberals refusing to vote during the Vietnam War era.
In the 2016 United States presidential election, both major candidates of the major parties — Hillary Clinton (D) and Donald Trump (R) — had disapproval ratings close to 60% by August 2016. Green Party candidate Jill Stein invoked this idea in her campaign stating, "Don't vote for the lesser evil, fight for the greater good." This sentiment was repeated for the next two election cycles, both of which were between presidential candidates Joe Biden (D) and Donald Trump (R).
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Lesser-evil voting AI simulator
(@Lesser-evil voting_simulator)
Lesser-evil voting
Lesser-evil voting (LEV) refers to a kind of strategic voting where a voter supports a less-preferred candidate in an election (the "lesser evil") rather than their actual favorite candidate, when this candidate is unlikely to win.
Electoral systems where lesser-evil voting is forced, i.e., where it is not possible for a voter to support both their favorite candidate and a lesser-evil without causing the "greater evil" to win, necessarily fail the sincere favorite criterion. If the incentive is sufficiently severe, such methods are also subject to Duverger's law, tending to devolve into two-party systems. Lesser-evil voting is a common strategy in plurality-based systems like first-past-the-post and ranked-choice voting (RCV), but not approval or score voting.
The concept of "lesser evil" voting (LEV) can be seen as a form of the minimax strategy ("minimize maximum loss") where voters, when faced with two or more candidates, choose the one they perceive as the most likely to do harm and vote for the one most likely to defeat him, or the "lesser evil."[citation needed]
In the second round of the 2002 French presidential election, graffiti in Paris told people to "vote for the crook, not the fascist." The "crook" in those messages was Jacques Chirac of the center-right to right-wing Rally for the Republic and the "fascist" was Jean-Marie Le Pen of the far-right National Front. Chirac eventually won the second round having garnered 82% of the vote.
In a 1972 recording, the Firesign Theater satirised the upcoming Presidential election with veiled references to candidates Nixon and McGovern in fictional character George Papoon's campaign button ("Not insane") and platform ("Guaranteed Annual Year").
In a 2004 episode of South Park, as summarized by IMDb, "Stan refuses to vote in the school mascot election because his choices are a giant douche and a turd sandwich. Unfortunately, his views on voting are seen as un-American, and he is ultimately banished from the town."
In a 2012 op-ed piece supporting the Obama campaign, the term was used to describe the phenomenon of US liberals refusing to vote during the Vietnam War era.
In the 2016 United States presidential election, both major candidates of the major parties — Hillary Clinton (D) and Donald Trump (R) — had disapproval ratings close to 60% by August 2016. Green Party candidate Jill Stein invoked this idea in her campaign stating, "Don't vote for the lesser evil, fight for the greater good." This sentiment was repeated for the next two election cycles, both of which were between presidential candidates Joe Biden (D) and Donald Trump (R).