[EM] Hybrid/generalized ranked/approval ballots

[Peter Zbornik]

Dear all,

have the properties of hybrid or generalized ranking/approval ballots been
examined?
A hybrid/generalized ranking/approval ballot is a ballot, with where the
voter ranks the candidates by either > or = without any other restrictions.
Say we have seven candidates ABCDEFG.
Say the voter likes A the most, then BC the same, then DE the same and last
FG.
Then instead of having the ranking A>B>C>D>E>F>G, or some approval of ABC
for instance, the ballot would look like
A>B=C>D=E>F=G.
For this type of ballot, the approval and ranked ballot would be a special
case.
I speculate that, such a hybrid ballot might take the best of two worlds:
the expressiveness of the fully ranked ballot and the robustness of the
approval voting ballot.

The voters (at least I) would most likely appreciate this liberation of
their preferences, since they might themselves decide to use a fully ranked
ballot, an approval ballot or something inbetween.

It seems that for instance the Schulze single-winner method allows for a
simplified hybrid system, as it allows for not listing all candidates.

Would be nice to know your thoughts on this.
Are hybrid ranked ballots a good idea?
Would your preferred methods be able to handle hybrid?

Best regards
Peter Zborník
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