Re: CHAT: browsers

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tristan" <kesuari@...>
To: <CONLANG@...>
Sent: 11 February, 2003 07:33
Subject: Re: CHAT: browsers


> John Cowan wrote:
> > Tristan scripsit:
> >
> >
> >>If the people vote for it, it'd go out of reach of the majority...
> >>(think America).
> >
> >
> > If the U.S. President were directly elected by the people, Bush II
> > wouldn't be sitting in the White House today.
> >
> > To become President, one runs in 51 separate contests (one for each
> > state, one for the capital district), each of which is worth a number
> > of points; points are distributed roughly on the basis of population.
> > Whoever gets an absolute majority of the points wins.
>
> How do they force an absolute majority? If there are there candidates
> and one wins 15%, one 40% and the other 45%, there's no absolute
> majority. I thought you did first-past-the-post?
Candidates from the two major parties (Republican and Democratic) are
eliminated from the race until one candidate from each is left (including
the Presidentin a re"elction year).  And third party candidates, which IIRC
have never won a presidency (Bull Moose?), do not make much difference
on the "absolute majority."
> Tristan.
Jake