[EM] Improved automatic dropping line option

[MIKE OSSIPOFF]

Long before defining the automatic equal ranking line option, I'd defined an 
automatic dropping line option.

The way I'd defined it, it does its dropping as soon as a certain kind of 
cycle occurs. This improved version goes ahead and finds the winner, and 
uses it in its decision to drop, as the automatic equal ranking option does:

If a voter chooses the automatic dropping line opton, that means that if 
there's a circular tie with some members above the line and some below it, 
and if no one above the line wins, then that voter wants to drop all of the 
below-line candidates from his ranking, and have the election recounted.

This option should be available in 2 forms. One form exactly as defined 
above. And another form in which the dropping only occurs if all the defeats 
in the circular tie are majority defeats, with a majority of the voters 
voting someone over someone else. This majority automatic dropping line 
option does the dropping that invokes  SDSC's  protection. The plain version 
adds some more protection, for the situations in which it retaliates against 
an offensive order-reversal that the majority version wouldn't catch.

The dropping can worsen one's result in a natural circular tie, and of 
course the plain version is more likely to do that.

[end of automatic dropping line option definition]

I don't suggest the automatic dropping line option for the poll, though it 
could be useful in public elections.

A voter could use the automatic equal ranking line option, and also the 
automatic dropping option (in either of its versions) on the same ballot. 
They could use the same line, or different lines at different rank 
positions.

I don't know if it would be desirable to have both options in a public 
election.

For manually-voted defensive strategy, I prefer defensive truncation, 
because it deters offensive order-reversal.

But for automatic strategy options, I prefer defensive equal ranking, as 
first described by Adam Tarr. The automatic equal ranking line option does 
that defensive equal ranking, automatically.

If it were necessary to just use automatic equal ranking or automatic 
dropping, I'd prefer automatic equal ranking.

Combining both options could create a strategy game between the B voters and 
the C voters in the familiar example in which B is middle CW, and the A 
voters order-reverse by insincerely ranking C over B.

On the other hand, though, the dropping and the equal ranking are strategies 
for different voters: The B voters could drop, and the C voters could equal 
rank. If one of those groups wanted to do automatic strategy, they'd want 
that option to be available. So maybe both options, automatic dropping and 
automatic equal ranking, should be available. The desirability of that is in 
conflict with the desirability of avoiding a strategy game between the B 
voters and the C voters.

So I'm not sure whether the automatic dropping line option should be made 
available along with the automatic equal ranking line option, in public 
elections.

I've also described other automatic strategy options, in previous postings. 
The two that I discuss here are the simplest ones, the ones that are easies 
to define.

I re-emphasizse that these options aren't just for wv: They're useful, if 
there's an offensive order-reversal problem, with any of the best methods, 
including SMA, NES, & DSV. All the best methods are potentially susceptible 
to offensive order-reversal.

Mike Ossipoff

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