The Election Methods Education and Research Group (EMERG) was founded by Russ Paielli and Mike Ossipoff. Mike is an expert on election methods, and Russ is the webmaster and content developer. We owe special thanks to Jean-Sébastien Lebacq for translating this site into French. Our purpose is to educate and inform the public about the gross inadequacy of our current plurality election method and the major benefits of a better alternative. Our focus is on single-winner election methods. [Note: the banner above may not render as intended on all browsers.]

Much of the information on this website can be traced to the Election Methods Mailing List, which is maintained by Rob Lanphier. Mike Ossipoff has been active on that mailing list for several years, and we are indebted to Rob for originating and maintaining it. The similarity of our domain name, however, implies no affiliation with that mailing list, nor does Rob necessarily endorse all the views expressed here.

EMERG is a non-partisan organization. We believe that election methods should be evaluated objectively and mathematically, without regard to which political parties or ideologies might benefit. Although political parties are mentioned on this website to illustrate examples, no endorsement is intended or implied. A good election method should be completely neutral, and it should not artificially restrict the number of parties that can be truly competitive.

Democracy is a great experiment with no guarantee of success. The election methods advocated on this website can improve democracy dramatically by giving the people, to the maximum extent possible, the kind of leaders they really prefer. However, no voting system can guarantee that the people will vote wisely, hence we believe that debates about which system will yield the "best" leaders are futile. Someone once said, "The people get the government they deserve." They get the election method they deserve too.

To forestall any possible misunderstandings, please understand that we are absolutely not advocating majority rule or anything like it. Majority rule without Constitutionally guaranteed individual rights is obviously a terrible idea. The United States is not a "pure" democracy (it is a constitutional republic), but it is a democracy to the extent that our leaders are democratically elected. All we are advocating is a more intelligent form of democratic elections.

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or corrections, please contact us. And be sure to check back regularly to see this website grow and improve. Above all, please link to us and spread the word about ElectionMethods.org. Without your help, we don't have a chance. Let's work together to improve democracy!

ElectionMethods.org