Editing Random ballot (section)

==Randomness in other electoral systems==
There are various other elements of randomness (other than tie-breaking) in existing electoral systems.

===Order of listed candidates===
It is often observed that candidates who are placed in a high position on the ballot-paper will receive extra votes as a result, from voters who are apathetic (especially in elections with [[compulsory voting]]) or who have a strong preference for a party but are indifferent among individual candidates representing that party (when there are two or more). For this reason, many societies have abandoned traditional alphabetical listing of candidates on the ballot in favour of either ranking by the parties (e.g., the [[Australian Senate]]), placement by lot, or rotation (e.g. the [[Hare-Clark]] STV-PR system used in [[Tasmania]] and the [[Australian Capital Territory]]). When candidates are ordered by lot on the ballot, the advantage of [[donkey voting]] can be decisive in a close race.

===Transfer votes===
In some [[single transferable vote]] (STV) systems of [[proportional representation]], an elected candidate's surplus of votes over and above the [[Droop quota|quota]] is transferred by selecting the required number of ballot papers at random. Thus, if the quota is 1,000 votes, a candidate who polls 1,200 [[first preference]] votes has a surplus of 200 votes that s/he does not need. In some STV systems ([[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] since 1922, and [[Australia]] from 1918 to 1984), electoral officials would select 200 ballot-papers randomly from the 1,200. However, this has been criticised since it is not replicable if a recount is required. As a result, Australia has adopted a variant of [[fractional transfer]], a.k.a. the "[[Gregory method]]", by which, in this example, all 1,200 ballot-papers are transferred but are marked down in value to 0.1666 (one-sixth) of a vote each. This means that 1,000 votes "stay with" the elected candidate, while the value of the 1,200 ballot-papers transferred equals only 200 votes.

===Selecting winners===
[[Sortition]] is a voting method which{{snd}}rather than choosing ballots{{snd}}chooses candidates directly by lot, with no input from the voters (except perhaps a [[Sortition#Methods|nominating or screening process]]). This is not the same as random ballot, since random ballot is weighted in favor of candidates who receive more votes. Random ballot would behave identically to random winner only if all candidates received the same number of votes.