Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2003 00:51:34 -0400
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[VirianPolicy]:[VirianVoting]

!!!Virian Voting

WorkInProgress

*This document is fundamental and requires a [vote|WikiVote] to be accepted.

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!!Franchise

All members of the [congregation|VirianCongregation] which is comprised of [Virians|Virian] who have elected to join [Meridion] (Refer ["Reputation rating system"|http://virus.lucifer.com/bbs/index.php?action=repIndex]) have a voice in the affairs of the Church of Virus, in that all members of the congregation are able to vote in any [Virian Vote|http://virus.lucifer.com/bbs/index.php?action=voteIndex] to which they have access.

Members of the [Virian|Virian] [congregation|VirianCongregation] [may|WikiMay] lose access to vote if they are silenced, but only for the period of silencing.
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!!Call For Vote

All [VirianLuminaries|VirianLuminary], i.e. those members of the congregation with a sufficiently high [reputation|VirianReputation] as determined by [Meridion], have the ability to establish votes.
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DavidLucifer: Mermaid was confused by the terminology. What exactly does "establish" mean here? A flow chart of the different phases would be very helpful.

[VectorHermit] Before spending time on a graphic lets try to get it worked out in words. As I understand it, we agreed that:

* A reputation of 6 or better (now [Magister|VirianMagister]) on [Meridion] is required to edit the [Wiki|VirianWiki]. As a vote must be proposed here on the [Wiki|VirianWiki] first, that puts a bottom limit to who can propose votes.
* The approval of four [Council|VirianCouncil] Members which includes the head of the Council (now [ArchVectors|VirianArchVector] and [PrimeVector|VirianPrimeVector] respectively) is required to establish (to create the vote entry on [Meridion] and open it for voting) a [vote|VirianVoting],
** although
* The establishment of a [vote|VirianVoting] is permitted without approval of four [Council|VirianCouncil] Members (now [ArchVectors|VirianArchVector]) if a page where there is a call for a vote is not edited or objected to for 3 days.
* A reputation of 7 or better (now [Luminary|VirianLuminary]) is required to establish (to create the vote entry and open it for voting) the vote on [Meridion].

[VectorHermit] This means that as previously determined, voting is a __cooperative__ venture. It appears to me that as the situation currently stands, a [Virian] with a reputation below [Luminary|VirianLuminary] can propose a vote on the [Wiki|VirianWiki], but that the vote would have to be placed on [Meridion] by a [VirianLuminary|VirianLuminary].
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__All proposed [votes|WikiVote] [must|WikiMust] first be posted on the [Wiki|http://virus.lucifer.com/wiki]__

The exact wording of the proposed Vote must be provided as follows:
*Category: What are the possible categories?
*Title:
*Question:
*Selection: select either ''single'' or ''multiple''
*Option 1:
*Option 2:
*...
*Option n:
In addition the proposal must also complete the following:
*Class: select ''compulsory'' or ''informational''
*Closes: Description of when it is proposed the vote be closed if not at a 60% or greater of equity polled.
*Adjudication: If not on a 60% support level for a two option vote, or "winner takes all" on a multi-choice vote.
*Restricted: Indicate if voting is restricted to a certain group, e.g. [VirianCouncil], [Adepts|VirianAdept]
*Visibility: Indicate if visibility is restricted to a certain group, e.g. [Magisters|VirianMagister], [Adepts|VirianAdept]

Suggestions for category:
* Policy:Wiki
* Policy:Virian
* Doctrine
* Doctrine:Illumination
* Doctrine:Best Of Virus
* Conference (or Infection)
* Poll

All proposals for a [vote|WikiVote] [must|WikiMust] be signified by adding [VoteCalledFor] to the page describing the [vote|WikiVote].

Any [VirianVector] with a sufficiently high reputation as determined by [Meridion] (currently [Magister|VirianMagister] or better) [may|WikiMay] edit the wording of the proposal for a [vote|WikiVote] until a wording agreeable to all is reached.

When changing the wording, all other Vector's names that may be present should be removed from the [VoteCalledFor] tag.

Acceptance is signified by suffixing the assenting [ArchVector|VirianArchVector] names to the proposal e.g. [VoteCalledFor] [DavidLucifer]

As soon as __4__ [ArchVectors|VirianArchVector] signify assent, a vote [may|WikiMay] be posted to the [Virian Voting Page|http://virus.lucifer.com/bbs/index.php?action=voteIndex].
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!Mermaid suggested that this level of qualification should only be necessary for votes on policy.

NB Terminology corrected above. We changed the meaning of Vector to council member and back to general member without updating this clause.

I must disagree. Strongly.

Who, in this scenario determines what is policy and what is not?

I guarantee that anyone with half a functioning braincell could work around such a clause to drive a truck through the intent of such a bypass, and then smile sweetly and say, "I followed the rules." And there wouldn't be a thing that anyone could do about it (although a Disciplinary Process might be used, this wouldn't fix any embarrassment). Because they would be right. People who establish rules with silly holes in them deserve it when the holes are used.

The process as described:

* relies on the discretionary judgement of people ([ArchVectors|VirianArchVector]) with the interests of the entire CoV in mind, and this is far better than any rules we could draw up, no matter how complex.
* is cooperative, collaborative, self-correcting and self-validating and hopefully will prevent the worst embarrassments we like to inflict upon ourselves from occurring in front of the general public.

Consider that if a proposed vote can't get the approval of 4 [ArchVectors|VirianArchVector] without modification, then there is probably something wrong with it and a "nomicon-like" session in the Wiki is called for to correct it.

Notice also, that if 4 [ArchVectors|VirianArchVector] could not establish a vote (overriding protest and delay), then a vote could be filibustered forever by somebody "Wiki Objecting" or even just editing it on a regular basis. In addition, an "emergency vote" could not be established, and we can't tell whether or not that may be needed.

So the two halves of this equation must be in place, and at the end of the day we rely on the [ArchVectors|VirianArchVector] to be acting in the best interests of the Church of Virus - or replace them.
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Notice that the full address of the article being posted, including version number [must|WikiMust] be provided. e.g. [http://virus.lucifer.com/wiki/WikiVote?version=10|http://virus.lucifer.com/wiki/WikiVote?version=10]

If no changes to a page having a [VoteCalledFor] tag have been made within __3__ days, a [vote|WikiVote] [may|WikiMay] be posted without further approval by removing the [VoteCalledFor] tag and changing it to a [WorkInVoting] tag.

A call for a Vote may be cancelled by replacing the [VoteCalledFor] tag by a [WorkInProgress] Tag.

The numbers and periods on this page [may|WikiMay] be altered as required by the [Virian Council|VirianCouncil].
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!!Voting Procedures

All members of the [congregation|VirianCongregation] are expected to vote on all issues put to the vote.

Some types of votes [may|WikiMay] require a minimum reputation in order to participate.

All votes have an abstain button. A vote for abstention is classed as a vote for the purposes of this rule.

Votes to [accept|WikiAccepted] or [reject|WikiRejected] a wiki page becoming an official document [must|WikiMust] be carried out under the conditions established in terms of the [WikiVote] rules.
