It could work if self-moderating debates were unrated or in their own rating system, but those solutions seem clunky to me.
I would be perfectly happy with an "unranked" status for "self-moderated" debates.
At the same time, I think it would be useful to know how charitable (open-minded) a potential debate partner has been in the past.
The main reason I no longer participate in the current debate system is because most of my debates go unvoted on.
The other reason I no longer participate in the current debate system is because I disagree with the RFD rules and most of the judge's OPINIONS.
A "self-moderated" debate might end in a tie, but it will never go "unvoted" and if there is any dispute about "who won", at least both sides are on equal footing and it doesn't devolve into "who has the most friends" or "who's the most popular with the judges".
And just to be perfectly clear, the current system and current rules and ranking system would be 100% UNCHANGED by this proposal.