Commentary & Analysis

Why I Support The Center for Election Science

During the last 40 years, I’ve donated money to a large number of good causes. The experience made me realize the importance of efficiently allocating money. What I’ve noticed is that some very good causes, such as curing cancer or improving education, already have a lot of money being spent on them. An extra dollar spent in these areas helps, but I wanted to identify the cause where an extra dollar has the biggest effect. That logic led me to The Center for Election Science.

The Center for Election Science has a great idea for improving voting methods—approval voting. This simple change to the election process would dramatically improve the satisfaction of citizens with their government. It would reduce partisan bickering and encourage participation.

Implementation of the idea involves educating voters on the problems with our current voting method, and showing them that there are easy fixes.

Even after discovering The Center for Election Science, I faced a big investigation to verify they had the right approach. There are many voting methods, and I had to learn how to evaluate them. Some methods that seem appealing on the surface, contain significant flaws when examined in depth.  Sorting through the voting methods, approval voting rose to the top, which is exactly what The Center for Election Science had discovered.

The investigation satisfied me that The Center for Election Science has a great idea that is still in its infancy. Money donated at this stage has a huge effect because so few people know that there is a simple solution for our terrible voting system.

Finding this good use of philanthropic dollars, I decided to co-sponsor The Center for Election Science’s matching gift which will make your donation dollars go twice as far. It makes me feel good to do something so significant.  I hope you will join me.