Handling write-ins & typos (was Re: Online MAM tallying server (was Re: [EM] I Propose an EM Poll on Presidential Candidates))

[Steve Eppley]

Eric Gorr wrote:
> Steve Eppley wrote:
> >If every vote omits an alternative, I don't see a need to
> >include it in the reported results.
> 
> True, probably not necessary...as I said, not a big issue.
> 
> Of course, the other problem with this style of input is that a
> typo in an option would be counted as two or more options. Again,
> easy to fix, for the user, but I tend to prefer interfaces that
> minimize the potential for user error, requiring them to go back
> and fix a mistake. 

Treating each misspelled name as another candidate will 
cause it to appear in the reported results, which does 
provide feedback about user errors.  I would expect that 
would suffice, in a close election where it makes a 
difference, for someone to notice and point out and have 
fixed.  

Again, we can have it all ways.  We could provide a "check 
box" option that turns on/off a requirement that all 
alternatives ranked in the votes be in the given list of 
alternatives.  That would have the effect of disallowing 
write-in candidates, unless every vote is externally 
(manually?) scanned for write-ins so those can be appended 
to the list of alternatives.

When set to allow write-ins, candidates not in the given 
(possibly incomplete) list of alternatives can be 
prominently reported, providing additional feedback.

Write-in candidates could be selected from a list of all 
eligible candidates, if possible, and if not possible then 
write-ins could be processed using some sort of "soundex" 
function in order to treat similarly spelled names as the 
same candidate.

To minimize the potential for user error, the interface 
should be designed not to allow entry of typos in the first 
place, if possible, so they won't have any mistakes to go 
back and fix.  For instance, when voting, each voter could 
drag & drop the nominees into the desired order. (Top to 
bottom is probably most intuitive.)  

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