Station Troops Overseas: Operation Rays of Freedom

[Nobody]

look at all the abstains. wow

 

[Epimethius]

A and B seem to be tied. I guess we'll need a tiebreaker vote, then.

Keep in mind that, technically, the abstains don't count, since they're....abstains. Only the first three do.

 

[Zarn]

A and B seem to be tied. I guess we'll need a tiebreaker vote, then.

Keep in mind that, technically, the abstains don't count, since they're....abstains. Only the first three do.

Techincally, the poll is invalid, due to a lack of of one or two options. You cannot have true WOTP, unless everyone gets their choice up there.

 

[ali]

operating rays of freedom will be shelfed

 

[Nobody]

<--- feels bad for Ali, he tried so hard.

 

[Provolution]

Ali, it is shelfed now, but we try again. By experience, people nullify half of our proposals, and some people hardly come up with any of their own and lives for shooting down ideas.
You are a good sport, and we will find some fund and good use of our troops, simply due to the fact that people get bored by the doves.

 

[blackheart]

Ali, it is shelfed now, but we try again. By experience, people nullify half of our proposals, and some people hardly come up with any of their own and lives for shooting down ideas.
You are a good sport, and we will find some fund and good use of our troops, simply due to the fact that people get bored by the doves.

It sure looks like people voted for "boredom" this time

 

[ravensfire]

Techincally, the poll is invalid, due to a lack of of one or two options. You cannot have true WOTP, unless everyone gets their choice up there.

Interestingly enough, it wasn't. We don't have "poll standards", just a requirement that the officials follow the will of the people. In this case, the will was pretty clear - do none of the above options. It's not required that all choices be presented. Yes, this could create a problem where someone tries to stack the deck, as this poll very nearly did. However, read the section on WotP closely, especially the part with "informal" in it, and consider the madness that could cause.

The abstain option is a rather unusual option, and with a long tradition. Few things will aggravate people more than not having it, yet it rarely (except for a certain political protest) gets used. Abstain can mean "I don't care", "I don't know enough", "I don't like any of the options", among other reasons. It does not mean, except where mandated, ignore this vote.

To respond to Epi - abstain DOES count as a choice. Only in one poll type are Abstains not counted, for they are explicitly counted out. That's it. In everything else, Abstain represents the choice, the Will, of that one person, and cannot be discarded.

To respond to Zarn, I think I covered most everything above. I will, however, point out that ignoring an option that has significant support when creating a poll is a possible violation of the Constitution, and could be cause for a CC on the matter. That's the best manner to handle this - use a CC (hopefully with a remedy clause included in the next Court's procedures) to handle the matter. We've had Polling Standard Commissions in the past, all died out in a week or two. Use the courts, or the threat of the courts to handle such matters, and we're in good shape!

-- Ravensfire