[EM] Naive question about Range Voting -- why 0-99 and not 0-100?

[Monkey Puzzle]

On 20 Nov 2006 10:47:24 -0800, Michael Poole wrote:
>
> Monkey Puzzle writes:
>
>> Hi folks,
>>
>> Is there any reason to not allow range voting with scores between 0
>> and 100?  If the intent is to allow a full range of voter expression,
>> why not go the extra point?  I thought the whole idea was to avoid
>> imposing a structural restriction on the voters.
>
> Is there any reason *to* allow voting with a score of 100?

Yes.  It is easily divisible.

>
> Emotionally, people might want to give some candidate(s) a round
> scores, but it provides only one additional level of granularity.
> The largest differences between expressible scores are around the
> midpoint of the range.  These are unlikely to be either relevant or
> imporant.

the midpoint of 0-100 is 50.  That is an exact average.

>
> Restricting the range to two digits makes ballots easier and may
> encourage voters to put thought into scores.

You're assuming a problem and then imposing a solution, which was
precisely the point of my question.  What if there is a workaround to
the problem that you've assumed?  One that, in fact, makes it easier
to express full approval without having to enter 2 digits?  Here's an
example.  Please consider the idea, and not my necessarily imperfect
terminology.

   For each candidate, please enter one of three choices:

     YES      approve of the candidate
     NO       do not approve the candidate
     PARTIAL  approve the candidate partially.

   If you choose to give partial approval, please indicate the percentage
   approval in the 4th column

                    YES      NO     PARTIAL      If partial, enter % support:
   Alpha Bravo     (  )     (  )     (  )        [ 2 digit 00-99 score here]
   Charlie Delta   (  )     (  )     (  )        [ 2 digit 00-99 score here]
   Echo Foxtrot    (  )     (  )     (  )        [ 2 digit 00-99 score here]
   Golf Hula       (  )     (  )     (  )        [ 2 digit 00-99 score here]


Essentially, this is an error-checking Approval ballot with a Range
extension.

-- 
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