APPROVAL VOTING

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Abstract
Approval voting has been offered by a number of formal theorists, notably Steven Brams and Peter Fishburn (1983), as a solution to problems occasioned by multicandidate elections. The formal development of approval voting has spurred a number of empirical studies. This note adds to the empirical literature on approval voting by presenting recent evidence in the form of CPS data on the 1980 elections and exit poll data on the 1981 New Jersey gubernatorial primaries. The New Jersey exit poll was the first survey designed specifically to tap the potential consequences of approval voting. These data reveal that plurality voting obscured the acceptability of Reagan and Carter to their respective party identifiers. They also confirm John Anderson's victimization by the “wasted vote” syndrome, and the fact that the victors of the New Jersey gubernatorial primaries were Condorcet candidates. Additional data on public receptivity to approval voting are also presented.