Zero support — nobody scored anybody (Approval)¶

Generated from zero_support_approval.yaml — do not edit by hand. Regenerate: python STARVote_LH_tabulation_engine/tools_adam/scripts/build_yaml_pages.py.

Method: Approval Voting · 1 seat · Expected winner: Ada

Official tie-break (lot) order: Ada > Ben > Cleo > Dev > Elsa — consulted only if every deterministic tiebreaker stays tied (how the ladder works).

Scenario¶

Five nominees, three voters, and every single score is 0.

This is the degenerate limit of a tie: not "the ballots point two ways" but "the ballots point nowhere at all". Every candidate has the same total (0), every head-to-head is Equal Support 0-0, and every rung above the lot has nothing to count — so whichever method is asked, the answer comes from the published lot order and not from a vote.

It is a real shape, not only a thought experiment. A committee ballot that goes out with five names nobody has heard of comes back like this; so does a race where the electorate deliberately withholds support. What the file is for is checking that the engine says so OUT LOUD rather than reporting a winner as though somebody had chosen one.

Same three ballots are counted six ways in this folder — see the README for what each method does with them, and which of the six admits the lot decided.

Ballots¶

Row 1 = candidate names; each later row is one voter's approvals (1 = approve, 0/blank = not approved).

Ada,Ben,Cleo,Dev,Elsa
0,0,0,0,0   # voter 1 — turned out, then scored every nominee 0
0,0,0,0,0   # voter 2 — a deliberate 0 is not a blank ballot
0,0,0,0,0   # voter 3 — the third ballot says the same thing

What the engine says¶

Full report from the _tabulated mirror (regenerated on every run; every analysis forced on):

--- Approval Voting (single winner) ---
 Tabulating 3 ballots (any non-zero score = approval).
 Abstentions: 3 of 3 ballots approved no one (0 ballots cast an approval).

Ballots:
   columns = Ada, Ben, Cleo, Dev, Elsa      (1 = approve; 0 = not approved)
     3 × 0,0,0,0,0

   Ada  -- 0 (0%) -- Elected
   Ben  -- 0 (0%)
   Cleo -- 0 (0%)
   Dev  -- 0 (0%)
   Elsa -- 0 (0%)
  Note: Ada, Ben, Cleo, Dev, Elsa each have 0 approvals and tie for the last 1 seat.
        Candidate priority order (Ada > Ben > Cleo > Dev > Elsa) broke the tie: Ada elected, Ben, Cleo, Dev, Elsa not elected.

[Approval Distribution] (how many candidates each ballot approved)
   0 approvals across 3 ballots — average 0.0 of 5 (range 0–0).
     approved none: 3 ballots

[Co-Approval Matrix]
 Of the voters who approved the ROW candidate, the % who ALSO approved the COLUMN candidate.
         |  Ada   |  Ben   |  Cleo  |  Dev   |  Elsa  |
   ----------------------------------------------------
   Ada   |   --   |   ·    |   ·    |   ·    |   ·    |
   Ben   |   ·    |   --   |   ·    |   ·    |   ·    |
   Cleo  |   ·    |   ·    |   --   |   ·    |   ·    |
   Dev   |   ·    |   ·    |   ·    |   --   |   ·    |
   Elsa  |   ·    |   ·    |   ·    |   ·    |   --   |

Winner — Approval Voting (single winner)
  Ada

Run it yourself:

python STARVote_LH_tabulation_engine/starvote_larry_hastings.py method_comparisons/zero_support_election/cases/zero_support_approval.yaml

Zero support — nobody scored anybody (Approval)¶

Scenario¶

Ballots¶

What the engine says¶

See also¶