I think the abstentions should be counted too.
Like your math shows, including the abstentions is the difference between the yes votes having a majority or a plurality.
It makes democracy much messier, but more representative.
(just my $0.02)
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Bureaucracy 1: Like Kafka, Only Funnier
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Sean K - Feb 26, 2003 8:28:50 pm PST #5670 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
Sophia Brooks - Feb 26, 2003 8:31:20 pm PST #5671 of 10001
Cats to become a rabbit should gather immediately now here
I would think ( and Gar probably knows, as he know about voting) that the yes and no votes are the only ones that count as percentages, but the abstaines get tallied and published.
so:
100 Buffistas
50 Yes 66.7% 25 No 33.3% 25 Abstain.
Again, I am totally talking out of my ass. (I think Abstains would count toward a quorum, but not the majority)
Jon B. - Feb 26, 2003 8:37:28 pm PST #5672 of 10001
A turkey in every toilet -- only in America!
For this vote, why does it matter how you count them? Aren't things being decided by simple majority?
Sophia Brooks - Feb 26, 2003 8:45:52 pm PST #5673 of 10001
Cats to become a rabbit should gather immediately now here
Typo Boy - Feb 26, 2003 8:47:28 pm PST #5674 of 10001
Calli: My people have a saying. A man who trusts can never be betrayed, only mistaken.Avon: Life expectancy among your people must be extremely short.
Right - we have no quorum rule yet. My feeling it is a matter of labor. If it is no big deal for Jengod to tally abstensions as well as yes's and no's she should do so - even though it has no influence on the final vote. But if it increases her work significantly, it is not worth her doing so. Just my two cents.
Sophia Brooks - Feb 26, 2003 9:03:29 pm PST #5675 of 10001
Cats to become a rabbit should gather immediately now here
Although now all the cites I am finding say that abstains don't count for a quorum, or they do, depending on wording of by-laws blah blah blah.
Too complicated.
Anyhow, they all gree that the "majority" is 1/2 + 1 out of yes votes + no votes.
So in the case:
100 Buffistas
25 yes
5 no
70 abstain
Yes wins, because out of the 30 people who voted, 25 voted "yes".
So you ignore the abstains, unless we want to see how may abstained just for our personal interest.
Rebecca Lizard - Feb 26, 2003 9:57:35 pm PST #5676 of 10001
You sip / say it's your crazy / straw say it's you're crazy / as you bicycle your soul / with beauty in your basket
I don't think absentions ought to count towards a quorum. But they ought to be registered in the question of deciding a vote. Is my feeling.
brenda m - Feb 26, 2003 9:59:34 pm PST #5677 of 10001
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there
I don't think absentions ought to count towards a quorum.
But the abstentions indicate that at least a certain number of people paid attention to the fact that there was a vote and discussion going on. That's what the quorum is designed to establish, isn't it?
However, we may need to change majority to plurality if lots of abstentions become the norm.
Rebecca Lizard - Feb 26, 2003 10:01:52 pm PST #5678 of 10001
You sip / say it's your crazy / straw say it's you're crazy / as you bicycle your soul / with beauty in your basket
But the abstentions indicate that at least a certain number of people paid attention to the fact that there was a vote and discussion going on. That's what the quorum is designed to establish, isn't it.
But what exactly... oh, no, I get it. Yes. As long as an abstention means "I don't like either of the choices and want to talk more about a third choice, or develop a third choice," and not, "I don't know what to do but I want to register that I'm here, damn it", that does make sense. Agreed.
Hil R. - Feb 26, 2003 10:02:02 pm PST #5679 of 10001
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
I think the abstentions will only be this high on this ballot, since there are several issues at once. I'd say that we wait to see what the numbers look like for this one, and if the abstentions do make a difference, we figure out what to do about it then. Otherwise, how to count abstentions sill be one of the things to decide later.