"Americans’ most recent encounter with 'the spoiler effect' was in 2000, when Ralph Nader diverted enough votes from Al Gore in Florida, at least one poll suggested, to tip the election to George W. Bush. By Poundstone’s reckoning, four other presidential races were probably skewed by minor-party candidates—'an 11 percent rate of catastrophic failure,' he writes . . . Poundstone, the author of 10 previous books, has the popular science writer’s knack for wrapping difficult material in enticing anecdotes. How can you not be seduced by a book that uses the Hot or Not Web site to illustrate range voting?"—Mick Sussman, The New York Times Book Review

"William Poundstone's Gaming the Vote arrives amid unusually high reader interest in equitable voting. And Mr. Poundstone is a clear, entertaining explicator of election science. He easily bridges the gaps between theoretical and popular thinking, between passionate political debate and cool mathematical certainty."—Janet Maslin, The New York Times 

"Gaming the Vote is about the problem of an election system that selects Candidate B when a majority would have preferred Candidate A. The book's author, William Poundstone, is not a political guy. He is a science writer. He writes not with a partisan's bile but with a technician's delight in explaining all the ways our democracy can give us what we don't want . . . This is a book that goes down easily. The reader who likes puzzles, math and politics will especially enjoy it . . . Poundstone is not a social scientist showing off but a storyteller."—Bruce Ramsey, The Seattle Times

"Bill Poundstone writes good books. His second and fourth, The Recursive Universe and Labyrinths of Reason were nominated for Pulitzer prizes. His classic Prisoner's Dilemma is among the best books about game theory ever written for a popular audience, and his Fortune's Formula tells the story of a little known gambling strategy that works wonders in casinos, at racetracks, and on Wall Street. His latest, on voting theory, is among his best. Moreover, it appears at a time when the political process seems receptive to reform . . . Poundstone invigorates what would otherwise be an abstract discussion of voting procedures by drawing pertinent examples from the pages of history."—James Case, Siam News

“Poundstone always writes with the premise that thinking can be entertaining. His latest book, Gaming the Vote, clearly reasoned, well-researched, and often amusing, deals with the crucially important question: How best does a government ‘by the people’ decide what to do?  He does not find a definitive answer, but he shows why it is so difficult and prepares the citizen to face the question responsibly.”—Rush Holt, U.S. House of Representatives (NJ-12)

“In 1948 economist Kenneth Arrow dropped a bombshell on political scientists. He proved that no voting system can be perfect. Poundstone’s eleventh book is a superb attempt to demystify Arrow’s amazing achievement, and to defend ‘range voting’ as the best voting system yet devised. His account is interwoven with a colorful history of American elections, from the corrupt politics of Louisiana to Ralph Nader as the ‘spoiler’ whose splitting of the Democratic votes helped elect George W. Bush. A chapter covers Lewis Carroll’s little-known valiant efforts to solve the voting problem. A raft of amusing political cartoons enliven Poundstone’s prose. There is no better introduction to the inescapable flaws and paradoxes of all voting systems than this eye-opening, timely volume.”—Martin Gardner, author of Are Universes Thicker than Blackberries? and more than 60 other titles

“Gaming the Vote is a witty, irreverent tour d’horizon of voting theories, voting theorists, and their quarrels. Unlike many academic brouhahas, the stakes here are high. Both citizens and politicians will delight in the tales Poundstone tells, but it won't always be easy to tell who’s right. Nevertheless, Poundstone cuts through a lot of the obfuscation and takes sides, which won’t please everybody.”—Steven J. Brams, Department of Politics, New York University, and author of Mathematics and Democracy: Designing Better Voting and Fair-Division Procedures

“Gaming the Vote is a must-read for anyone interested in the process and outcomes of voting.  Poundstone gives a clear and remarkably accurate account of the rich theoretical literature. At the same time, his examples of voting anomalies in real elections are both lively and revealing.”—Kenneth J. Arrow, professor of economics (emeritus) at Stanford University and winner of the 1972 Nobel Prize in Economic Science

"In this masterful presentation William Poundstone sketches the history of voting systems, elucidates ideas such as Borda counts, Condorcet winners, and range voting, and shows how changing our system could make it less likely to yield paradoxical and unfair results. Ranging easily over material as disparate as Arrow's impossibility theorem and recent presidential elections, he makes it clear just how unclear is the question, 'Who won?' The book has my vote."—John Allen Paulos, author of Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences and Irreligion: A Mathematician Explains Why the Arguments for Religion Just Don't Add Up

"Behind the standard one man-one vote formula lies a labyrinth of bizarre dysfunction, according to this engaging study of the science of voting. America's system is the least sensible way to vote, argues Poundstone, prone to vote-splitting fiascoes like the 2000 election. Unfortunately, according to the author, a famous impossibility theorem states that no voting procedure can accurately gauge the will of the people without failures and paradoxes. (More optimistically, Poundstone contends that important problems are solved by range voting, in which voters score each candidate independently on a 1–10 scale.) Poundstone provides a lucid survey of electoral systems and their eccentric proponents (Charles Dodgson, aka Lewis Carroll, loved voting novelties), studded with colorful stories of election skullduggery by campaign consultants, whom he likens to terrorists . . . exploiting the mathematical vulnerabilities of voting itself. His lively, accessible mix of high theory and low politics merits a thumbs-up."—Publishers Weekly