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<pre>Chris:<br><br>You said:<br><br>Forest:<br><br>Why are your suggested grade options labelled A, C, F and not A, C, E?<br><br>[endquote]<br><br>Because that's the school letter-grading system in the U.S.<br><br>A,B,C,D,F<br><br>Why do we skip "E"? Probably because "E" can be construed to stand for <br>"Excellent", and so "F" is used instead, to stand for "Failure".<br><br>Chris continued:<br><br>You can make the same wonderful argument that 2-slot ballots can work <br>just as well as 3-slot ballots.<br><br>[endquote]<br><br>Oh, and is Chris saying that the randomization would then remain as simple for<br>the voter? :-)<br><br>Chris continued:<br><br>And why limit the voters to one coin-toss each per candidate?<br><br>[endquote]<br><br>How about because it's considerably easier and more familiar for most<br>people. People are used to flipping a coin. A randomization consisting<br>of a series of coin flips isn't quite the same thing.<br><br><br>Sure, Approval could simulate any Score Voting range, with the right <br>randomizing method. People are used to deciding things by a single<br>coin flip.<br><br>Chris continues:<br><br>A voter <br>who wishes to give candidate x a grade of B on the scale A-B-C-D-E can <br>first toss a coin to decide between A and C on an imaginary<br>A-C-E ballot and if that comes up A then approve x on the actual <br>2-slot ballot but if it comes up C then toss the coin again to decide <br>between approving x or not.<br><br>[endquote]<br><br>See above.<br><br>Now, someone could ask why not just have 5 slots, for A,B,C,D,F.<br><br>Because we already have 3-slot voting equipment. We already do 3-slog<br>voting when we vote on initiatives. The balloting system for that must<br>recognize 3 distinct ratings for an initiative: "Yes", "No", and neither.<br><br>So we already have 3-slot balloting. So A,B,F grading woudldn't require<br>new balloting technology or equipment.<br><br>Likewise, of course, because we already have 3-slot balloting, the following<br>methods likewise wouldn't need new balloting technology or equipment:<br><br>MTA, MCA, MTAC, MCAC, MTAOC, MCAOC, AOC (optional-conditional Approval), MMT, GMAT.<br><br>Mike Ossipoff<br><br><br><br>Chris Benham<br></pre> </div></body>
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