I am open to discussion but these are my initial thoughts regarding the questions you are asking:
Should the founding block producers deserve an advantage such as short names to protect their identity?
Why not - reputation is super important when it comes to this and it seems that the founding block producers will have put in the time, energy and money to merit being distinguished from the other BPs. They are the ones who are going to "push the baby out", so to speak, so I think it is fine if they want to have a "mom" or "bp" or some other prefix/suffix that speaks to that.
Should the community rely upon voting portals to filter out the scammers?
Do you mean that you are wondering if the community should require verification of voter identity?
Should everything be as fair as possible?
By fair - do you mean equal? Because when people talk about fairness, it is usually about a fantasy based on subjective opinions. Which often seems to require that the those who are early adopters or more talented, or stronger, or smarter give up the advantages achieved by being who or what they are. This is by no means fair, though it might make things seem more equal.
This is an electoral and governance system that depends on legitimacy and credibility. Can you imagine if electoral registrars gave themselves special status in an election because they helped to facilitate it? Starting block producers would be undermining the legitimacy of their own candidate blockchain by including special status for themselves in it.