My heuristic would be simpler, and less prescriptive than those I've seen suggested.

It is based upon the somewhat naive, but egalitarian ideal that everyones opinion is as valid as the next.

It is: No change in the number of votes per level; just simply that everyone can, if they have a vote remaining, vote (upvote*) twice on any node they consider worthy of special merit. That additional vote decrements their existing tally in the usual way.

I see no reason to restrict this to any given level:

Why is the opinion of someone new to programming; or even an experienced programmer new to Perl; or even experienced with Perl but new to this site; lesser than someone who has hung around on the periphery of this place accumulating attendance votes and the occasional "what have you tried" or "read the formatting guidelines" or "etiquette demands that you announce your cross-posting" or "X-Y problem" replies?

*I'd also allow double down-voting -- I consider the condemnation of bad posts as, if not more important as the commendation of good posts -- but I am aware that could be controversial in some quarters. (For those quarters, think of it this way: you'd have had double the potential to put me in my place!)

Whilst I am quite sure that there will be small cliques of monks that will arrange to double upvote each others posts; I am naive enough to believe that they will be more than offset by the: "I vote on those posts that surprise, delight or educate me" majority.