[EM] Random Ballot procedure for next time

[MIKE OSSIPOFF]

It's too late to change anything about the count procedure, now that
balloting has begun. But I'm going to describe a better Random Ballot
procedure. It's for the subsequent poll, and is suggested too for any
polls after that. Of course if anyone objects to the Random Ballot
procedure that I specified before the balloting, the we could switch
to this newer procedure even for the current poll:

1. Each letter of the alphabet can be replaced by a number, so that A=1,
B=2,...Z=26.

2. Add up the last letters of all the voters' names. Subtract from
that sum the largewt multiple of 26 that is less than that sum.

3. Multiply the resulting number by 10, and subtract from that product
the largest multiple of 26 that is less than that product. The resulting
number is called "K".

3. Add K to the 2nd to last letter of each voter's name, and subtract
from that sum the largest multiple of 26 that is less than that sum.

4. The ballot whose voter's name is the one for which the resulting number 
is least is the one that is used as the tiebreaking ballot.

5. But if 2 names have the same 2nd to last letter, then, using the same
K, add that K to the 3rd to last letter of each voter's name, and
proceed as in #3 & #4. If 2 names have the same 2nd to last & 3rd
to last letters, then use the 4th to last letters, etc. In general
if the nth to last letters are the same, then use the (n+1)th to last
letters.

[end of random procedure to choose a tiebreaking ballot]

This is just a suggestion. Since we've already voted on the voting
system, it's probably too late to make this an official recommendation
for randomly choosing a tiebreaking ballot. But it could be sent
in, with the voting system recommendation, as an informal suggestion for
one way of randomly choosing a tiebreaking ballot.

Mike





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