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This page is intended to specify the proposed statutory rules for [[Definite Majority Choice]] in a form suitable for use by legislatures or in referenda or initiatives. The properties, criteria satisfied and motivations for [[DMC]] should be discussed elsewhere.
== Article 1 ==
Each ballot shall list all qualified candidates for the office, and the voter shall be allowed to write in anyone reasonableadditional number of other candidatescandidate. On the ballot, the voter shall be allowed to rank candidates in order of preference,. with theA abilityvoter tomay express separatealso rank fortwo eachor qualifiedmore andcandidates write-inequally, candidate.leave some Rankingcandidates oneunranked, candidateor higheruse thanranks anothernon-consecutively. shallThe benumber consideredof equivalentranks toshall abe vote castsufficient for thea higher-rankedvoter candidateto againstexpress theseparate otherrank infor theeach ''pairwise'',qualified orand onewrite-on-one,in contest between those two candidatescandidate. ALeaving votera alsocandidate mayunranked givewill thebe sameconsidered rankequivalent to moregiving than onethat candidate, orthe leavelowest somepossible candidates unrankedrank. WhenA aballot voterranking ranksone twocandidate orhigher morethan candidatesanother equally,shall thebe votercounted shallas bea assumedvote tocast befor castingthe nohigher-ranked votecandidate in the ''pairwise'', or one-on-one, contest between anythose two of those candidates. WhenA aballot voterranking does not rank alltwo candidates, itequally shallcasts be assumed that this voter is casting ano vote for each ranked candidate against each unrankedeither candidate in their respective pairwise contests, and that this voter is casting no vote in any pairwise contest between any two unranked candidates.
== Article 2 ==
The ballot shall allow a voter to specify aan ''Disapprovedapproval cut-off'' rank, either by ranking candidates above a predetermined rank or as a separate ''Disapproved'' option on the ballot, in order to indicate that all candidates above Disapprovedthe approval cut-off are to be considered approved, and all candidates at or below Disapprovedthe approval cut-off are to be considered disapproved. AThe voternumber of separate ranks shall be allowedsufficient to rank as manyall qualified orand write-in candidates asat desiredseparate rank entirely above or entirely below Disapproved,the andapproval ifcut-off. that If a voter ranks no candidates at or below Disapproved,the allapproval thecut-off, voter'sall ranked candidates shall be considered approved. Ranking a candidate higher than Disapprovedthe approval cut-off shall be considered equivalent to casting an ''approval'' vote for the candidate. The ''approval rating'' of a candidate is the total number of valid ballots on which that candidate is ranked above Disapprovedthe approval cut-off. A candidate X is ''higher-approved'' than another candidate Y when X's approval rating is larger than Y's. The ''least-approved'' candidate is that candidate with the lowest approval rating.
== Article 3 ==
# A candidate X has a ''pairwise win'' over candidate Y, and Y suffers a ''pairwise defeat'' by X, when X defeats Y in the pairwise contest between X and Y. A qualified or write-in candidate X is called the ''Instant Round Robin winner'' when X is not pairwise defeated by any other candidate. If there is an Instant Round Robin winner, then that candidate wins the election. A ''majority winner'' is a qualified or write-in candidate such that, on a majority of the valid ballots, this candidate is ranked above every other candidate otherqualified or write-in than Disapprovedcandidate. If there is aThe majority winner, thenif thatit candidateexists, winswill always also be the electionInstant Round Robin winner.
# Suppose there is no majorityInstant winnerRound andRobin no undefeated candidatewinner. A candidate is ''definitively defeated'' if that candidate suffers a pairwise defeat from any other higher-approved candidate. When no undefeatedInstant candidateRound Robin winner exists, each candidate suffers at least one pairwise defeat from another candidate, and the least-approved candidate must therefore be definitively defeated . A candidate is ''eliminated'' from the race when that candidate is removed from the set of candidates eligible to win the election. The ''Definitive Majority Choice winner'' is that candidate who, after elimination of zero or morethe least-approved candidatescandidate, is undefeatedthe againstInstant allRound remainingRobin winner among all candidates remaining. While there is no Definitive Majority Choice winner, the least-approved remaining candidate is eliminated from the race. As soon as a Definitive Majority Choice winner is created, that candidate wins the election. The majority winner or the undefeatedInstant candidateRound Robin winner, if either exists, will also always be the Definitive Majority Choice winner. ▼# Suppose that there is no majority winner. Then a candidate X is called ''undefeated'' when for every other candidate Y other than Disapproved, X defeats Y in their pairwise contest. If there is an undefeated candidate, then that candidate wins the election. The majority winner, if it exists, will always be undefeated.
# Suppose that there is no Instant Round Robin winner; that an elimination stage of determining the Definitive Majority Choice winner cannot take place because two or more candidates are tied for lowest approval rating; and that the approval rating tie cannot be resolved using standard election recount procedures --- for example, some candidates may have received unanimous 100% approval or 0% approval. Then,
▲# Suppose there is no majority winner and no undefeated candidate. A candidate is ''definitively defeated'' if that candidate suffers a pairwise defeat from any other higher-approved candidate. When no undefeated candidate exists, the least-approved candidate must therefore be definitively defeated. The ''Definitive Majority Choice winner'' is that candidate who, after elimination of zero or more least-approved candidates, is undefeated against all remaining candidates. While there is no Definitive Majority Choice winner, the least-approved remaining candidate is eliminated from the race. As soon as a Definitive Majority Choice winner is created, that candidate wins the election. The majority winner or the undefeated candidate, if either exists, will also always be the Definitive Majority Choice winner.
## If any of the tied least-approved candidates is pairwise defeated by another higher-approved candidate not tied for lowest approval rating, each such least-approved candidate shall be eliminated.
## Otherwise, eliminate the candidate with the lowest number of
### total ballots ranking that candidate in first or second place.
### If equal, total ballots ranking that candidate in first, second or third place.
### If equal, total ballots ranking that candidate above last place.
### If equal, total ballots ranking that candidate in first place.
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