Nomic:Game 2005-04-02:Whether fifty percent is a simple majority

From Carls wiki

Hear ye, Hear ye!

The Honorable Judge Matthew J. Rieger is now presiding over the judgment concerning prop. 329, and in particular rule 203.

The language of "simple majority" in rule 203. Is the main question on the floor today. While a "simple majority" may be considered to be less than half, the term majority still applies. This idea is seen in voting everywhere. One candidate must have more votes in order to win an election. Since we have only two choices, being "yes" and "no", a vote has to be a majority in order to win.

While it is noted that 0.5 is the largest in the set, it is also noted that one could not choose which 0.5 would win, or should be chosen to be the largest. The fact that they are the same means that one is not larger than the other.

To further explain the nuances with the usage of the phrase "simple majority". Consider these two different definitions from dictionary.com. The first- "less than half of the total votes cast but more than the minimum required to win, as when there are more than two candidates or choices".

The second- "a voting system whereby the highest number of votes for any one candidate or question designates the winner; one more than half of those voting on a question or candidate".

As per the first definition, the only way that there can be a majority that is less than half is if there are more than 2 candidates or choices. Therefore, 45% of a popular vote in which there were more than two candidates could be a majority vote. However, it is clear that if there were 2 candidates, or options, that it would take at least 51% to constitute a majority.

The end of the second definition makes it even clearer for us that we need "one more than half of those voting on a question or candidate". For our current purposes that would be 4 votes.

That is my judgement. Any proposal must receive more than one half of those voting to pass.