AIUI, basically works you don't vote for are treated as ranked equally at the bottom of your ballot (below no award if and only if you listed no award on your ballot).
That's (mostly) correct - the only quibble I have with it is semantic differences about "ranked equally at the bottom" versus "not ever preferred" and those really are semantic. That's also not how a number of people have expressed an intention to vote.
Leaving off everything below "no award" seems completely wrong if you don't want any of them to win, but if they do, you really, really, really want the mediocre people to win over friends-with-hitler and want friends-with-hitler to win over hitler?
Correct. In your example, if you rank every last possible entry, your vote will go to every person other than Hitler before it goes to Hitler, and it will only go to Hitler once every other participant is eliminated - which will never happen. You have correctly voted as you intended: "Preferred nice people, then don't give it out at all, but if you are going to give it to an asshole who doesn't deserve it then please rank the assholes in this order".
If you leave any entry off, however, you're voting for everything you *do* rank over everything you *don't* rank. Even below No Award.
And this matters in the Hugos because of the number of people who've expressed a preference along the lines of "Well, I don't know anything about a couple of the entries and haven't liked the author's other work, but I'm sure it's fine - but I really hated that one and/or call shenanigans on the nomination, so I'll leave off the don't-cares but put 'hate' below 'No Award'."
(no subject)
Date: 2014-05-14 11:12 am (UTC)That's (mostly) correct - the only quibble I have with it is semantic differences about "ranked equally at the bottom" versus "not ever preferred" and those really are semantic. That's also not how a number of people have expressed an intention to vote.
Leaving off everything below "no award" seems completely wrong if you don't want any of them to win, but if they do, you really, really, really want the mediocre people to win over friends-with-hitler and want friends-with-hitler to win over hitler?
Correct. In your example, if you rank every last possible entry, your vote will go to every person other than Hitler before it goes to Hitler, and it will only go to Hitler once every other participant is eliminated - which will never happen. You have correctly voted as you intended: "Preferred nice people, then don't give it out at all, but if you are going to give it to an asshole who doesn't deserve it then please rank the assholes in this order".
If you leave any entry off, however, you're voting for everything you *do* rank over everything you *don't* rank. Even below No Award.
And this matters in the Hugos because of the number of people who've expressed a preference along the lines of "Well, I don't know anything about a couple of the entries and haven't liked the author's other work, but I'm sure it's fine - but I really hated that one and/or call shenanigans on the nomination, so I'll leave off the don't-cares but put 'hate' below 'No Award'."