[EM] Popular initiatives and dulling the tyranny of the majority

[Raph Frank]

One of the issues with citizen's initiatives is that it can be passed
because a majority slightly prefers it, even if it is terrible for a
minority.

The idea would be to allow voters trade off votes in one initiative
against another held at the same time.

For each option, the voter rates the option from -99 to +99 or
indicate "Yes" or "No" if they want to be sure that their ballot
always votes Yes or No for that initiative.

99 = much better than status quo
0 = equal to status quo
-99 = much worse than status quo

Step 1 is to work out the majority for each option.  If any initiative
is passed by a majority (Yes + all >0 ratings is more than No + all <0
ratings), it is considered initially passed, otherwise, it initially
fails.

This initial configuration is used as reference for all other possible outcomes.

A valid configuration is one that beats the initial configuration
using this comparison method.

For each ballot, the total score of the initial outcome and the
outcome under test is determined to see which is preferred.

The ballot is then considered to vote

- In favour of all options marked Yes on the ballot
- Against all options marked No on the ballot
- consistant with all the outcome it prefers for all other options.

For example, if I voted

A: Yes
B: +15
C: -20
D: +15

and the outcomes being compared were (A,not B,not C,not D) and (A,B,C,D)

my ballot prefers the 2nd option as it has a higher total score.

A: Yes (locked)
B: Yes
C: Yes (even though I don't really like it)
D: Yes

Anyway, if after all the ballots have been determined, the outcome is
equal to the outcome under test, then the outcome under test is
considered valid.

All ballots are then considered to rank all the outcomes based on the
ratings, and the condorcet winner amoung the valid outcomes becomes
the winner.

For the purposes of working out how a ballot ranks the outcomes, a
locked Yes is considered a +1000 rating and a locked No is considered
a -1000 rating.

This allows voters effectively trade off one set of initiatives
against another.  It also allows the majority to exclude from
consideration certain initiatives.

If an initiative is voted locked No by a majority, then it cannot be
passed and similarily an initiative that is passed by a majority of
locked Yeses is certain to be passed as only outcomes that are
consistant with that decision will be considered valid.

It also maintains majority rule if the voters want to impose their
will, but allows negotiation.