Outline
How to read a toss-up
A toss-up is a published decision. It means the record, the gap, or the odds will not carry a name.
Outline. This is not a finished essay.
What a toss-up is
- The formula refused a name. The reasons are a thin record, a small gap, a long shot, or two candidates who would both leave the penalty alone.
- A toss-up is a published decision. It is not a page the editors forgot to finish.
- On this site, an editorial toss-up can also override a formula endorsement, as the New Hampshire legislative sample does. The override has to say why.
What to do with one
- Do not average the candidates into a secret endorsement.
- Read office impact. If it is high, the companion move is plaintiff work and a local brief, not a louder slogan.
- If a chapter has a fact the score misses, the path is a sourced local brief, not an unsourced dissent.
Open questions for the full essay
- How should a multi-seat legislature be scored when "the candidate" is a slate?
- Should a toss-up expire on a fixed date, or only when a record changes?
- When is an override of the formula a correction, and when is it a veto by taste?