Online MAM tallying server (was Re: [EM] I Propose an EM Poll on Presidential Candidates)

[Steve Eppley]

Eric Gorr wrote:
> At 10:59 AM -0800 2/11/04, Steve Eppley wrote:
> -snip-
> >It also expects to be given a list of the alternatives, but
> >sometime in the near future I intend to post a version that
> >constructs the list of alternatives by examining the votes.
> 
> Will will not work if all voters leave one or more of 
> the available options unranked. Perhaps not a big issue,
> but it is why, with my calculator, I ask for the number
> of options.

If every vote omits an alternative, I don't see a need to 
include it in the reported results.  Any alternatives that 
do not appear in the results are considered bottommost in 
the social ordering, analogous to the way we tally 
alternatives left unranked by a voter.

We can have it both ways.  Any alternatives found in the 
votes can be added to the given list, if they're not 
already there.  So if someone wants to ensure that 
alternatives left unranked by every vote will appear in the 
results, she'd only need to include those in the list (and 
if unsure which haven't been ranked by any vote, she could 
include all the alternatives, except write-ins, of course).

How does Eric's calculator handle write-in candidates?

---Steve     (Steve Eppley    seppley at alumni.caltech.edu)