The initial set of \(3\) motions presented to the voters are simply the ideal locations for the first \(3\) voters. The choices for the electorates are to:

• Randomly generate a Uniform electorate with \(3\) initial motions.
• Randomly generate a Normal electorate with \(3\) initial motions, or
• Randomly generate Cycle elections with \(3\) initial motions and the voters are in a constrained uniform distribution such that each motion is preferred by \(60\) voters over one of the other two, forming a cycle.

New motions cannot be added before the initial approval vote, but they can be re-positioned, possibly breaking the cycle. New motions can be added whenever the focus motion is a repeat. New motion locations can be adjusted prior to a round, and are fixed in location by the next vote.

Voter behavior is controlled by two parameters. These parameters can be implemented as a per-voter characteristics, but are implemented here as a global parameters to simplify this simulation.

Approval Threshold

A percentage value for how close motions have to be to a voter's idea to get initial approval. (A more informed alternative approach to this type of threshold value for a voter's initial approval would be knowledge of a voter's assumed distance from the center. That information would be available after a prior SAVE run, and assumes the electorate does not change significantly between SAVE runs.)

Tolerance Delta

A percentage increment that is applied with every repeated focus. The underlying tolerance value starts at zero, and increments by this delta value. Tolerance is used in issue distance calculations by voters to determine whether to vote to end the SAVE loop and the mandate approval vote. (Technically, tolerance can affect the initial approval vote, but that does not happen in this case because the initial tolerance is globally set to zero.) Tolerance is also used when voters decide whether or not to propose a new motion.

The parameters of this simulation are set such that it will take several rounds for the full election process to complete. A later simulation adds a bit more sophistication to the voters in order to converge more quickly on the final result.

It is also possible to zoom or pan the display and to toggle the visibility of the voter ideals. Voter ideals (other than their own) would not normally be available to voters. However, it is very useful to have them available to view when exploring the simulation.