we could agree on a set number of likey and popular choices for characters and then hold an an actual voting poll.
ie. if there are 10 characters, we number them 1 to 10 in order of preference, 10 being the highest and 1 being the lowest.
the amount you rate a character is how many points it gets.
example, if i rate lyndis 10, but someone else gives her a 3, the option has 13 points.
it requires a bit of math, but everyone's votes being added together in this scoring system should yield a better idea of how at least our community sits, and it means everyone has to make a choice about ALL options present. the scores are much harder to distort than with this current shoddy half vote and downvote crap.