So, I've been talking and talking about it, but I haven't yet actually sat down to draft up what I want to see in my voting system project. Let's break it down.
Absolute must-haves:
- Preferential/ranked-choice voting (Here's the video that first introduced me to the subject, please watch it if you're not familiar with this concept at all.)
- Voter validation, perhaps an account/login process to work from. Must be able to prevent bots and spoofed/duplicate accounts.
- Tagging and filtration system, to filter issues by locality radius to voter's residence, as well as subject matter, plus the ability to sort by date created, number of votes, and priority (according to the creator of the issue, and according to the priorities of the voter).
Would like to have:
- Write-in option, with text pattern recognition that will attempt to consolidate write-in votes.
- Voter may be asked whether their write-in response is different from an existing option, or from other write-in response, and if so, how? Highlight the key words that signify the difference, or type in a more explanatory answer for manual review.
- Sliding scales/typing fields for numerical questions, such as preferences on percentages.
- Fundamental questions on philosophy and societal beliefs, to set a base-line on what issues to bring forth in the future.
- Certification and/or knowledge tests to allow voters to participate in votes on specialist issues. Would require a degree or equivalent in the subject at hand.
- Resources linked/available to allow the voter to educate self on a subject.
Do NOT want to have:
- Restrictions on where a voter must live in order to participate in the app
Not sure whether to have:
- Ability to edit vote at a later time if more options become available
- (Optional) notifications to alert the voter that a previously-answered issue now has additional options
- Summary of current standings on the vote, after the voter has submitted their answer
- Ability to configure voter's profile to have a number of permanent residence locations other than 1 (i.e. nomadic voters, or voters with multiple homes)
- Ability to submit requests/suggestions on issues to vote for in the future
- Some sort of incentives to encourage semi-regular participation
Posted 1/27/22 (no updates since then). I'm likely to think of a few more things, especially if I hear feedback on the plan. Feel free to leave a comment.
