Rock the vote: polling rules and guidelines

[Norton I]

TASKS:

These are the tasks I will carry out as poll master:
- I will discuss with you what polls we need and when to start them. There will be a thread for these discussions.
- Everybody is free to post their own polls, but I will correct them or void them if there is a good reason to do so.
- I will solve problems with polls when they occur.

The following rules are meant to prevent polling problems. Some of them have already been discussed in various threads.

RULES:

1. The options in a poll should be complete This means that all option should be available to vote on. When the list of all possible options is too large (choosing a civ) or limitless (choosing a city name) there will first be a thread in which everybody has the opportunity to bring forward their own suggestion. There should never be a poll option like "Something else".
2. All options should be mutually exclusive Let me illustrate the meaning of this with an example. The question "Who should we trade techs with?" followed by a list of the other team, is a confusing poll, because it is perfectly possible to trade with more than one team. (If tech trading is on )
3. Two round rule If a poll has more than two options, and none of the options gets 50% of the votes in the first round, there will be a second round in which only the top two options in the first round are left. Exception: this will not be the case if there is no time left for a second round.
4. Abstain is not a poll option It is however highly encouraged to leave a message in the poll thread if you are not planning to vote on this one, or when you need more info from your team members before you can cast your vote.
5. Splitting votes When the vote splits, the team captain makes the final decision.
6. Voting on people is anonymous For all other polls it is better to be able to see who has voted for what.

I also made some guidelines. These are not strict rules, but probably good things to keep in the back of your head.

GUIDELINES

A. Discuss before you vote Especially in important votes we should have ample time to listen to each others opinions before we cast our final vote. In principle, a poll should not be created before there has been a discussion on the subject in another thread.
B. Time A poll should be open long enough that everybody has ample time for discussion, deciding, and voting
C. Changing your vote It is possible to change your vote until the poll is closed. Please announce your switch very clearly! Mention both your old choice and the option you want to change it into in the poll thread. An additional personal message to the poll master is appreciated.

PS. This is a first draft of the rules and guidelines. Suggestions for changes and amendments are more than welcome!

 

[Sommerswerd]

Suggestions:
1. This Thread could be combined with the Upcoming Polls Thread, and the Polls Requested Thread all into one thread for Poll related talk. That way the Polling Rules are conveniently listed on the frontpage of the thread where people are asking for a ruling on their new polls. Rules at the top, followed by poll request posts, discussion, then Poll Master rulings, all in one thread.

2. The combined Polls Thread could be Stickied so we always know where to go to request a new poll.

3. Maybe instead of writing your own description of the Poll Master tasks, you could just include the desription of office (tasks,duties) that Silent Confusion posted, since that is the description that everyone voted on

4. Maybe instead of saying "Everybody is free to post their own polls, but I will correct them or void them" you could say... "Everyone should post the language of their proposed poll in the Poll request Thread, so that the Poll Master can review it before they post it." Thay way we don't have a situation where a poll gets posted and 5 or 6 people vote in it before the Poll Master even sees it.

5. Just a reminder of this rule from the AMAZON Constitution:

Our tech choices and our city locations will always be polled and anyone will be able to call for polls on any disputed issue

 

[Norton I]

Suggestions:
1. This Thread could be combined with the Upcoming Polls Thread, and the Polls Requested Thread all into one thread for Poll related talk. That way the Polling Rules are conveniently listed on the frontpage of the thread where people are asking for a ruling on their new polls. Rules at the top, followed by poll request posts, discussion, then Poll Master rulings, all in one thread.

Good point, I'll see if more suggestions come up in this thread, and once the ruleset is final I will move it to Upcoming Polls thread.

Agreed to your point 2 & 3.

4. Maybe instead of saying "Everybody is free to post their own polls, but I will correct them or void them" you could say... "Everyone should post the language of their proposed poll in the Poll request Thread, so that the Poll Master can review it before they post it." Thay way we don't have a situation where a poll gets posted and 5 or 6 people vote in it before the Poll Master even sees it.

Ideally this would be the way it happened. But I can imagine that when we start playing the turns there will be polls that need to happen within 24 hours. In that case, the sooner the poll is on the forum, the better, and it might take hours before I log in. Maybe I should rephrase it to state that polls with no time pressure should be discussed in the Poll Thread first.

5. Just a reminder of this rule from the AMAZON Constitution:

Definitely!

 

[Gingi]

I agree to all the rules and guidelines. And they're pretty similar to what SilentConfusion said. Adding a few guidelines to help the forum be more organized doesn't hurt.

 

[SilentConfusion]

I agree with Sommerswerd that the tasks of the Poll-Master have to be something that people voted on, although I admit there is probably room for vast improvement on what I came up with.

The job description of the Poll-Master as it has been stated:

Spoiler :

The Poll-Master does not take responsibility for constructing the polls fairly, but instead takes the responsibility for reviewing the polls posted to determine if they are fairly constructed.

If the poll-master determines that a poll is not fairly constructed, they are responsible for making suggestions to the poster and making sure that a replacement poll be conducted.

In the event that this officer is not active or away the Captain (or another elected officer) can temporarily assume the responsibilities of the poll-master.

The details of the proposed position state that the Poll-Master will be responsible for ensuring that polls are conducted in a fair manner, but it says little about how this should be accomplished.

I would like to make the following proposal to accompany the description of the Poll-Master position.

The issue is making sure that the polls written are fairly constructed in a way that is fair for all options.

I think that the best way to do this would be to create a thread where the polls can be posted first by their creators.

This would achieve a few different things:
1) It would allow the Poll-Master to review the poll, with it's wording and options, before the poll is actually opened. This would eliminate the need to recall polls after several people have already voted on them, forcing them to vote again. Not only does this save people's time, but it also could help eliminate potential frustration.

2) Since the poll would be posted for a short time before it actually opens, this would allow us to start discussion of the topic before we vote, which as a side benefit might help us reduce the number of changed votes. If people are aware of the arguments for or against something before they vote, people will be able to make a more informed decision and therefore are less likely to want to change their vote after hearing discussion, which would make calculating poll-results much less painstaking.
[...]

I think that this method is a really, really good way of making the polls fair. The only thing I would add, is that:

1. You are not posting a "poll" in the "Requested poll thread" b/c its impossible to post a poll inside a thread (polls ARE threads in-and-of themselves). You are posting the exact wording (everything you want the poll to say) including the exact wording of the choices, in one single post, so the Poll Master (and all other AMAZONs) can see it first.
2. The Poll Master does not need to post the poll. If the Poll Master says that your Poll is fair, then you can just post it yourself, with NO CHANGES from what you put in the thread.

So:
-Review polls to ensure that they are fair
-Determine if a poll is fairly constructed
-Make suggestions to poster for a replacement poll that will be fair
-Open a thread where AMAZONs can post polls they want to run.

I think it has been assumed elsewhere that the Poll-Master will arbitrate in cases of an issue concerning a poll, such as we had with the Tech Trading poll.


I definitely agree that these could be approved upon, especially in the realm of adding more specific duties that were not foreseen during the creating of this position.

One example of something that I don't think was thought about, but which Norton I points out is that the procedure should consider what happens in the case that a very time sensitive poll is needed. I am thinking, as I am sure is he, of polls brought about by changes in the game that need to be addressed the next turn, or even mid-turn.

We should always try to foresee what polls we are going to need and post them in advance to give time for discussion, but sometimes it may not be possible to foresee every upcoming decision.

As a team we need to decide if we are going to give our turn-player the lee-way to make a decision that arises during a turn and needs to be addressed before ending the turn, or insist upon having the turn-player stop play and post a poll. In the case that we want to vote on these actions, we will need a very quick poll indeed. We would need a protocol for what to do in these circumstances as having to wait until the Poll-Master or another elected officer logs in to begin a vote, if all polls are posted first to the Upcoming polls thread. I am suggesting that this is a special circumstance that we need to develop a protocol for.

In most other matters, we should have at least 24 hours until the end of our next turn. This would hopefully be enough time to allow either our Poll-Master or one of our other officers to log in and check the poll. At least one officer should check this forum each day, and I think this will probably happen most of the time.

But we do need to discuss what to do in the event of sudden decisions. In my opinion the turn-player has to have the ability to react to some sudden, immediate decisions without a poll. In many situations we can see what decisions we will have to make and can discuss them and poll them ahead of time, but for some we can't.

EDIT: I think it is important to set up polling rules, which are separate from the Poll-Master position. I think we should vote to accept the polling rules and not make it a practice for each new Poll-Master (if change occurs) to come up with their own rules. With that said I like the rules that Norton I proposes. I would be in favor of adopting a set of polling rules as Norton I has written them.

 

[Sommerswerd]

I think it has been assumed elsewhere that the Poll-Master will arbitrate in cases of an issue concerning a poll, such as we had with the Tech Trading poll.

I think that the AMAZON Constitution addresses that eventuality:

-------- Officer - Captain
... responsible for moderating team disputes, including poll related disputes (like the legitimacy of a poll)...

Also, take a look at this passage from the AMAZON Constitution, which also addresses your next point:

Officers
...we will use polls to elect officers as needed.... We can vote on the particular powers of an officer by poll. As a default, turnplayers will handle things...

So I think that if we want the Poll Master to do things outside of what was voted on, we need to propose a poll for it.

As a team we need to decide if we are going to give our turn-player the lee-way to make a decision that arises during a turn and needs to be addressed before ending the turn, or insist upon having the turn-player stop play and post a poll... In my opinion the turn-player has to have the ability to react to some sudden, immediate decisions without a poll.

Again, here is how the AMAZON Constitution deals with that issue:

Turnplayers
AMAZONs playing the turn will be expected to follow the wishes of the team on any issue where teammates have made their wishes known, and use their best judgment on other decisions.

So we already have a policy for how to deal with those decisions that we don't have time to discuss, and or poll in advance. So there probably should NOT be a situation where someone quickly has to throw up a poll before posting the proposed wording in the Requested polls thread. If there is no time for a poll, then just let the turnplayer make the call.

I think that one way to approach a "What do we do if X happens?" type of question is to first consult the AMAZON Constitution. If the Constitution does not resolve the question then we should discuss an ammendment to address the issue. If the Constitution resolves the issue in a way that seems unfair, or outrageous or otherwise unacceptable to the AMAZON reading it, then a poll to amend the Constitution should probably be proposed.

 

[Sommerswerd]

I can imagine that when we start playing the turns there will be polls that need to happen within 24 hours. ... it might take hours before I log in.

If you consider the passages from the AMAZON Constitution that I quoted above along with this passage taken directly from the Description of Office for Poll Master that we voted on, your concern is covered:

In the event that this officer is not active or away the Captain (or another elected officer) can temporarily assume the responsibilities of the poll-master.

So I think we are covered in the situation you describe.
1. We should not need 'emergency' polls. If there is an issue that needs an emergency decision, the turnplayer makes the call.
2. If the Poll Master is unavailable, (we can wait, because there are no 'emergency' polls) but if it is taking too long, then another elected officer can review the proposed poll for fairness.

 

[SilentConfusion]

Well I feel silly for not reading the Constitution carefully enough.