Monday, April 23, 2018
When an election is held we often employ a peculiar kind of logic. As we mull over the candidates we may have a top choice, but if we think our preferred candidate isn’t going to win we might vote for our second choice. Or maybe we cast a ballot for our second choice because we want to make sure that a frontrunner who doesn’t represent our view loses.
This is an example of strategic voting and the phenomenon explored through mathematical analysis and simulation by David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science Professor Kate Larson and her recently graduated PhD student, Alan Tsang.