Hi. Thanks for writing this. I find electoral reform to be a genuinely interesting cause area, and I appreciate the effort to apply EA frameworks to it. I have a few concerns with the framing and some factual details:
On neglectedness: The claim that this is “the most neglected intervention in EA” doesn’t match the track record. The Center for Election Science has received over $2.4M from Open Philanthropy, $100K from EA Funds, and $40K+ from SFF. 80,000 Hours has a problem profile on voting reform calling it a “potential highest priority area” and did a full podcast episode with Aaron Hamlin. There’s also a dedicated EA Forum topic page, and another post appeared today advocating for CES funding. This doesn’t mean additional funding isn’t warranted, but framing this as EA’s “most neglected” area overstates the case.
On the theory of change: The post seems to conflate two distinct interventions: (1) running congressional candidates on electoral reform platforms to “prevent authoritarian consolidation” in 2026, and (2) actually implementing approval voting + top-four primaries long-term. The “$125M protects $400B” framing treats these as equivalent, but they’re quite different propositions. The 20% success probability is asserted without justification, and it’s unclear what “success” means… winning midterms? Passing state initiatives? Both?
I’d also find it helpful to understand the mechanism better: how does “50 congressional candidates running on electoral reform” prevent authoritarianism? Most swing voters care about bread-and-butter issues like affordability and healthcare—the claim that approval voting advocacy serves as an effective “organizing principle” would benefit from more evidence or argument.
Some factual corrections: The post advocates for approval voting but cites Alaska as evidence. Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, not approval voting. It’s also worth noting that the repeal measure in Alaska barely failed (50.1% to 49.9%) despite being outspent 100:1 - which cuts both ways on tractability. And while the post mentions Fargo’s approval voting was banned by the North Dakota legislature, this seems like an important cautionary tale about scaling that deserves more attention.
I appreciate you sharing but I’d just encourage tightening up the claims and being more precise about what evidence supports which interventions and what your suggested interventions are doing.
I agree with your critique. This is my first post on this forum, and while I had an idea of the rigor this audience would demand, I see how this falls short. Thank you for your feedback—I will be more diligent in future posts.
Hi. Thanks for writing this. I find electoral reform to be a genuinely interesting cause area, and I appreciate the effort to apply EA frameworks to it. I have a few concerns with the framing and some factual details:
On neglectedness: The claim that this is “the most neglected intervention in EA” doesn’t match the track record. The Center for Election Science has received over $2.4M from Open Philanthropy, $100K from EA Funds, and $40K+ from SFF. 80,000 Hours has a problem profile on voting reform calling it a “potential highest priority area” and did a full podcast episode with Aaron Hamlin. There’s also a dedicated EA Forum topic page, and another post appeared today advocating for CES funding. This doesn’t mean additional funding isn’t warranted, but framing this as EA’s “most neglected” area overstates the case.
On the theory of change: The post seems to conflate two distinct interventions: (1) running congressional candidates on electoral reform platforms to “prevent authoritarian consolidation” in 2026, and (2) actually implementing approval voting + top-four primaries long-term. The “$125M protects $400B” framing treats these as equivalent, but they’re quite different propositions. The 20% success probability is asserted without justification, and it’s unclear what “success” means… winning midterms? Passing state initiatives? Both?
I’d also find it helpful to understand the mechanism better: how does “50 congressional candidates running on electoral reform” prevent authoritarianism? Most swing voters care about bread-and-butter issues like affordability and healthcare—the claim that approval voting advocacy serves as an effective “organizing principle” would benefit from more evidence or argument.
Some factual corrections: The post advocates for approval voting but cites Alaska as evidence. Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, not approval voting. It’s also worth noting that the repeal measure in Alaska barely failed (50.1% to 49.9%) despite being outspent 100:1 - which cuts both ways on tractability. And while the post mentions Fargo’s approval voting was banned by the North Dakota legislature, this seems like an important cautionary tale about scaling that deserves more attention.
I appreciate you sharing but I’d just encourage tightening up the claims and being more precise about what evidence supports which interventions and what your suggested interventions are doing.
I agree with your critique. This is my first post on this forum, and while I had an idea of the rigor this audience would demand, I see how this falls short. Thank you for your feedback—I will be more diligent in future posts.