Scoring
Every solution is scored one to five on six criteria, then combined into a single reading out of 100.
The bands
The weights
Each score is mapped onto nought to one, multiplied by its weight and averaged. Criteria left unscored are dropped and the remaining weights renormalised, so a half filled rubric gives an honest partial number rather than one dragged toward zero.
Toothiness carries the most weight because a solution that does not change the underlying incentive is not a solution, however cheap and popular it is. Affordability and independence carry the least, because both are contingent on politics that can shift.
My score is an editorial judgement and I will get some of them wrong. The readers’ average is a different kind of information: it tells me which of my judgements are lonely. Individual ballots stay private, and you can change or withdraw yours at any time.
If you think the weighting is wrong, that is a legitimate disagreement and the comments under any solution are the place for it.