I would however ask about the turnout sub-goal I list. This one requires some thought, and is the driving force behind registration drives, register on election day, motor-voter, australian must-vote laws and mail-from-home ballot.

The tough question is, how important is voter turnout? A good system allows everybody to vote if they make the effort. However, you can control the “effort” level and affect an election quite a bit. In some cases the effort bar is raised so high that people call it true disenfranchisement. In other cases, people question the value of setting the effort bar so low that people who barely care still vote, as this affects an election quite a bit too.

How do we make that decision? Which is better, an election with 45% turnout and secret ballot, or one with 70% turnout and vote-by-mail? Or the 96% turnout (up from 47%) in Australia? This is not a question with a simple answer, but every election system ends up making a choice along this spectrum.