voting theory

Southwest Airlines Co. said Friday it will require uncontested candidates for its board of directors to win a majority among shareholder votes cast to be elected, instead of just a plurality. If an incumbent fails to get a majority of votes cast, he or she must tender a resignation to the board, which can reject the offer to resign, the company said in a regulatory filing. Southwest usually holds its annual shareholder meeting in May at its Dallas headquarters.  

The hand count of ballots cast in Minneapolis' first ever election using instant runoff voting is coming to a close and Minneapolis elections officials will soon start to compile a report about the city's new experience. So far, they say the voting and counting has gone smoothly and they're on pace to finish several weeks ahead of schedule. But some interested observers are not as impressed with the city's performance.

We thought we had a good process in place   -Pat O'Connor

 

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands leaders are once again asking more than 16,000 registered voters to be part of history by voting in the CNMI's first gubernatorial runoff election on Monday. The runoff election has been declared a legal holiday. Gov. Benigno R. Fitial of the Covenant Party will face off with Republican Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider.  

Voters are being asked to cast their ballots one more time before the town can finalize this year's municipal election results. The town was required to recanvass vote counts on Nov. 10 for three positions on this year's ballot because the totals between at least two of the candidates were within 20 votes or less. Although two of the three results remained unchanged — Board of Finance and Zoning Board of Appeals — the race for one of the four seats up for election on the Barkhamsted Board of Education  

The Brown County Board of Elections counted 220 provisional ballots and 12 absentee ballots this past Tuesday, Nov. 17, and released its official count from political race and ballot issue voting on Nov. 3. The Board's certifying of the official election figures didn't change any results from unofficial figures on the General Election night two weeks previously. Political candidates in very tight races who appeared to have lost following vote counting on Nov. 3 in fact did lose, according to the offic  

Letting majority rule be our main method of deciding controversial issues has left America as a country with institutionalized, mutually-agreed-upon prejudices. From slavery to denying women the right to vote to our current ban on gay marriage in most states we have made discrimination okay as long as 50 percent of us agree on it. The people as a whole make bad decisions.  

It's time to vote for your favorite student artwork to appear on the cover of Park Bench magazine. The Aiken County School District, the Aiken Standard and the City of Aiken Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism again partnered for the cover art contest that will feature artwork from Aiken County elementary students. Twice a year, an elementary school is selected and, as part of the student's art classes, the art teacher works with students to produce works of art related to the parks, recreatio  

Throwing this up a bit early. I have faith that no voting past 3:45 AM CST is really gonna mess with the overall result too much, and I've got a very busy day ahead. It's not exactly a revolutionary choice, but then again, why should it be?  

City residents have until the end of business hours today to submit questions for the recall candidates forum being hosted Tuesday by the Greater Wildwoods Chamber of Commerce. The forum, so far, is the only formal gathering of the six candidates scheduled before the Dec. 8 election. Tracey Dufault, executive director of the chamber, said Thursday that her group felt it necessary to bring the candidates together to give people a chance to hear directly from them.  

Cindy Lucarelli, challenging longtime Port Orchard Councilwoman Carolyn Powers, moved within recount range after the latest tally of ballots from the Nov. 3 election. The two candidates are now separated by 10 votes. Powers has held a whisker of a lead since the election Nov. 3.