I think it's probably a good idea to raise the bar in terms of number of participants -- and I don't think voting NP is really participating. I don't think "most people don't care one way or the other" (whether shown by not voting or by voting NP) to be a good enough reason to do something.

I agree with this.

I think it's important we are sure how optional parts of the voting process are before we vote on losing them. It should seem that there will be a no-pref vote on this. Shouldn't it?

ita, why?

Have there been votes without No Preference?

I'm pretty sure they have been. I'm just trying to work out if we voted that No Preference was an option, or we voted that it was supposed to be there at all times.

We have already had at least one vote where the proposer decided that there would be no NP option, and there wasn't.

I could put forth a vote and frame it as being totted up preferentially?

Absolutely. This has come up on several occasions, but no one's ever proposed a ballot that used it.

Pretty sure not. And if you can, then I want those nine days of my life back that we spent deciding if you could.

That was for one particular ballot (or maybe a couple) from when we were deciding how the voting process would work. But we never said it couldn't be used on future ballots.

we voted that No Preference was an option, or we voted that it was supposed to be there at all times.

We never voted either way. It was decided that the proposer could choose how the ballot was set up.

It's so funny, Brenda, because I remember preferential voting was a big irritant for me and now my response remains, "whatever." I remember being really passionately against it. But I couldn't tell you why at this point. Probably because, in practice, it hasn't been an issue.

Jesse - that bit you quoted does not read to me as anything other than saying no pref is an option. It does not read to me as a requirement.

I might add right here - that this is a GREAT example of why someone (not me, I have none of this time stuff) needs to pull together the voting rules as well as a document that tracks all previous votes and outcomes.

Are the voting rules in the Cheesebutt? (I've never read the whole thing)

As "first proposer" I jave always hated "no preferance," but it seemed like a good compromise with people who hated the very fact of voting at the time. Now that voting seems more entrenched in the culture, it does not seem necessary. In practice, it seems like it would not change the outcome of very many votes.