[EM] equal rankings IRV (was: Approval vs ??)

[James Green-Armytage]

Mike Ossipoff wrote:
>Much of the criticism of Approval is done in a vacuum. I always want to 
>reply:
>"...So then, Approval is worse than....what?"

>IRV?


My reply:
	Well, of course Condorcet, as we agree...
	But, failing that for whatever reason, how about a version of IRV which
allows equal rankings?

	I guess that there are two basic ways to count it: one is to count equal
votes as whole votes for the different candidates. For example, if I vote
A B and C equal to each other in first place, in the first round they each
get an extra whole vote as a result of my ballot. The strength of my vote
is not transferred to my subsequent choices unless/until all of my first
choice candidates have been eliminated. 
	The other is to count equal votes as fractional votes for the different
candidates, depending on how many of them remain un-eliminated. For
example, if I vote A B and C equal to each other in first place, in the
first round they each get an extra 1/3 vote from my ballot, and once one
of them is eliminated the remaining two each get 1/2 in subsequent rounds.
When the second to last is eliminated, then the whole strength of the vote
is concentrated into the remaining candidate, and only after that
candidate is eliminated does the strength of the vote pass onto my
subsequent choices.
	I guess you could call these "equal-rankings IRV (whole votes)" and
"equal rankings IRV (fractional votes)". (ERIRV/whole and ERIRV/fractional
for short.) 
	For single-winner purposes, I have the impression that whole votes are
better, and that is basically what I'm suggesting in lieu of approval
unless someone can convince me otherwise. 
	For multiple winner STV-PR purposes, however, I don't think that whole
votes would work, since they could very easily subvert the proportionality
of the election. I'm not quite sure about the pros and cons of equal
rankings STV (fractional votes). I do think that there is a software
package called "choice plus" which counts STV-PR elections this way, and
which may be used for some Pacifica board elections. I would be very
interested to know if anyone can point out a serious flaw in this method
which is not present in regular STV-PR.
>

	Anyway, I seem to be talking about a few different things at once. Let me
go back to single winner ERIRV/whole. It seems like it would address some
of your (Mike's) concerns about favorite burial, while still maintaining
some of the advantages of IRV over approval. Plus it would have a ballot
that is more expressive than both the standard IRV ballot and the standard
approval ballot. My mind isn't really made up on this issue, and I will
welcome constructive dialogue.
>
James