Abstract#

In the current MoonDAO Executive Branch Leader election process we simply use weighted voting with a super-majority. This proposal includes new language for the MoonDAO Constitution to use Instant Runoff Rank Choice Voting.

Problem#

If there are more than two candidates running for election, "first-pass-the-poll" voting creates a game theory issue where third-party candidates are at a huge disadvantage. Using ranked choice voting you can signal your true preference without compromising or worrying about "throwing away your vote" on a third-party candidate.

An in-depth explanation of Instant Runoff Ranked Choice Voting can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant-runoff\_voting

The current MoonDAO Constitution reads as follows for the Executive Branch Leader Election:

Election

MoonDAO members may hold an election for a new Astronaut if there is a vacancy. Candidate Astronauts may be nominated by MoonDAO members and must have been part of the Senate for at least 180 days. Each nomination must go through the senate with a super majority vote. If there are multiple nominations that go through the Senate, then the DAO will vote among the candidates using $vMOONEY with weighted voting. There may be multiple rounds of voting until a Candidate Astronaut receives super-majority votes to be confirmed as an Astronaut.

This will be changed as follows, additions have been bolded, and the removed portion strikethroughed.

Election

MoonDAO members may hold an election for a new Astronaut if there is a vacancy. Candidate Astronauts may be nominated by MoonDAO members and must have been part of the Senate for at least 180 days. Each nomination must go through the senate with a super majority vote. If there are multiple nominations that go through the Senate, then the DAO will vote among the candidates using $vMOONEY with weighted voting Instant Runoff Ranked Choice Voting. There may be multiple rounds of voting until a Candidate Astronaut receives super-majority votes to be confirmed as an Astronaut.

Benefits#

This avoids MoonDAO from game-theoretically landing on a "two-party" system with two major candidates.

Some benefits from Wikipedia are quoted below:

Instant-runoff voting has notably high resistance to tactical voting when it elects the Condorcet winner. Proponents of IRV claim that IRV eliminates the spoiler effect, since IRV makes it safe to vote honestly for marginal parties: Under a plurality method, voters who sympathize most strongly with a marginal candidate are strongly encouraged to instead vote for a more popular candidate who shares some of the same principles, since that candidate has a much greater chance of being elected and a vote for the marginal candidate will not result in the marginal candidate's election. An IRV method reduces this problem, since the voter can rank the marginal candidate first and the mainstream candidate second; in the likely event that the fringe candidate is eliminated, the vote is not wasted but is transferred to the second preference.

Risks#

Risks of Instant Runoff Ranked Choice voting from Wikipedia:

It does not ensure the election of a Condorcet winner, which is the candidate who would win a direct election against any other candidate in the race. IRV does not demonstrate resistance to tactical voting when it does not elect the Condorcet winner. Some critics of IRV have noted that because of its greater complexity, IRV can create distrust among voters who misunderstand it. Often such criticism is related to allegations that IRV is a kind of plural voting. In Ann Arbor, arguments over IRV in letters to newspapers included the belief that IRV "gives minority candidate voters two votes", because some voters' ballots may count for their first choice in the first round and a lesser choice in a later round. The argument that IRV represents plural voting is sometimes used in arguments over the "fairness" of the method, and has led to frequent legal challenges in the United States.

Objective #1: Amend the Constitution to use Instant Runoff Ranked Choice Voting.

Key Results for Objective #1:

• Change the Constitution and apply this to the upcoming election in August.

Member(s) responsible for OKR and their role:

• pmoncada