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Definite Majority Choice: Difference between revisions
→The Ballot
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=== The Ballot ===
A voter ranks candidates in order of preference, and may decide to rank some candidates without giving them approval.
==== Graded Ballot format ====
A [[Graded Ballot]] ballot implementation would infer the ordinal ranking from the grades given to candidates.
<pre>
A B C D F + / -
Line 32 ⟶ 31:
X3 ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
Lowest ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )▼
</pre>
A voter may give the same grade (rank) to more than one candidate. Ungraded candidates are graded (ranked) below all graded candidates.
A candidate gets one vote in the one-to-one contest with any other candidate with a lower grade (rank).
C is the "Lowest Passing Grade": any candidate with a grade of C or higher gets one Approval point. No Approval points are given to candidates graded at C-minus or below, or to ungraded candidates.
Grades assigned to non-passing (disapproved) candidates help determine which of them will win if the voter's approved candidates do not win.
In small races it should be sufficient to grade 2 or 3 candidates, but in crowded races, there is the option to add a plus or minus to the grade, allowing a voter to rank candidates at up to 16 levels: 8 approved (A-plus to C) and 8 unapproved (C-minus to unranked).
==== Ranked Ballot format ====
If the Graded Ballot is deemed too complex, a ranked ballot may be used. Here is one possible format:
<pre>
|<-- Approved -->|
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
X2 ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
X3 ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
X3 ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
</pre>
Ranks 1 through 4 would be approved, 5 through 7 and ungraded would be unapproved.
▲Setting the default LPG at C instead of C-minus allows an indecisive voter to be hesitant about granting approval by initially filling in a grade of C. If after reconsideration the voter decides to disapprove the candidate, the minus can then be checked.
This ballot is less flexible and intuitive than the Graded Ballot version, but the voting method would be unchanged otherwise.
==== Discussion ====
What is a voter saying by giving a candidate a grade below the Approval Cutoff?
One could consider the Lowest Passing Grade (LPG) to be like Gerald Ford. Anybody better would make a good president, and anybody worse would be bad.
Grading candidate X below the LPG gives the voter a chance to say "I don't want X to win, but of all the alternatives, X would make fewest changes in the wrong direction. I also won't give X a passing grade because I want X to have as small a mandate as possible." This allows the losing minority to have some say in the outcome of the election, instead of leaving the choice to the strongest core support within the majority faction.
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