This repository enables programmers to easily verify their implementations of election methods. The repository contains machine-readable ranked ballots, expected results, and scenario descriptions. Ballots and election results are encoded in BFF. Programmers should be able to use the data in this repository regardless of the language or framework they use.
All scenarios are located in the scenarios folder. Each scenario has its own descriptively-named folder. Each scenario folder contains a ballots.bff file for election input and a description.txt for supplying context. Each scenario folder has a results subfolder filed with .bff files. Each file contains the election results according to a particular election method. The file's name corresponds to the election method.
scenarios
├── my-great-election-scenario
│ ├── ballots.bff
│ ├── description.txt
│ └── results
│ ├── minmax.bff
. ├── plurality.bff
. └── schulze.bff
.
Data in this repository can be used in automated tests. Tests can parse a scenario's ballots.bff file into ballot objects in memory. Tests can then pass the ballots to their election method implementation and compare their results with the associated .bff file in the results folder. If the tests fail, the scenario's description.txt file can be used in the test's failure message to help the programmer debug their election method implementation.
Experts in social choice theory are invited to contribute. Contributing more scenarios and voting methods will increase the quality and quantity of programs that implement election methods. Contributions could include creating new scenarios, adding results for a new voting method to an existing scenario, improving scenario descriptions, or correcting any of the above.
Programmers are invited to contribute too. The easier it is to use these test data, the greater the quality and quantity of programs that implement election methods. Contributions could include improvements of file formats, folder structure, or metadata.