New voting option: Abstain

[Kelly]

Hello members,

Recently the Admod Team has decided to add an Abstain option to the elections. Abstain is different from None of the Above in that Abstain basically means "my vote will not count" whereas None of the Above means "I don't like any of the candidates running".

We hope that this will be a good addition to AVEN elections

Kelly

[ithaca]

Question: what's keeping members who want to abstain from just not voting? Is it to show they're abstaining for some reason that is different from not liking the candidates? If so, would they have room to openly state why they're abstaining (with the potential to open a debate)?

[Steph Ace]

Question: what's keeping members who want to abstain from just not voting? Is it to show they're abstaining for some reason that is different from not liking the candidates? If so, would they have room to openly state why they're abstaining (with the potential to open a debate)?

The purpose of an abstained vote in politics is for the expression 'I am/ will be satisfied with every result'. It is usually only provided in situations where voting is mandatory (Such as Parliament votes) as opposed to non-compulsory votes commonly found in democratic societies. Therefore your question as to why it exists is valid is it is non-compulsory to vote.

"None of the above" in the electoral situation of AVEN takes the form of direct protest, where the voter is dissatisfied with all candidates.

Should 'Abstain' hold the majority, it is often considered to be a 'symbolic' victory and the winning option is moved to the option with the highest number of votes following abstain.

However, this is all based in political science. I am unsure what it constitutes here on AVEN (Since I was not apart of the decision nor saw the process to creating it)

[ithaca]

Should 'Abstain' hold the majority, it is often considered to be a 'symbolic' victory and the winning option is moved to the option with the highest number of votes following abstain.

That's actually a good question. If "None of the above" has the majority, we know what the rules are. But if "abstain" ever had the majority, have Admods already discussed what procedure will be in place?

[Kelly]

Since Abstain votes do not count, the winner still goes to the option with the highest number of votes besides Abstain.

There is a thought that some might use "None of the above" as Abstain, but that would not be good, really, so we have the Abstain option now, so None of the above should hopefully be used only when that is the real choice of the voter.

[Steph Ace]

If I may provide a slight critique. The word (and therefore concept) of Abstain is not common knowledge. Eventually this thread will be buried underneath others.

Would it be wiser to change the wording to something simpler such as "I approve of all options" or "I don't care" (For lack of better wording)?

[Sage Raven Domino]

Right, smth like 'I'm indifferent' or 'I like all of the candidates equally' would be more understandable.

Also, I'm sorry for pedantism, but a description of the new option yet needs to be added to the Election rules in the Info Center.

[Guest]

And I was thinking "Who's Abstain?".

[michaeld]

If I may provide a slight critique. The word (and therefore concept) of Abstain is not common knowledge. Eventually this thread will be buried underneath others.

Would it be wiser to change the wording to something simpler such as "I approve of all options" or "I don't care" (For lack of better wording)?

Maybe a short explanation should be added on each poll of the difference between NOTA and Abstain?

I approve of all options is one possibility. Another is "the candidates are too close in merit for me to decide". Another is "I don't know enough to make a proper decision". Sure such people can not vote, but Kelly is right that while there's a "NoTA" option, there's a good chance people will pick this when they don't really mean it.

[ThaHoward]

What's the difference between this and "none of the above"? Like as I see both means "none of teh above" only that abstaining your vote won't count. I think many will not take this into consideration when actually voting for "abstain" (most don't read the info threads) and thus many votes may be "lost".

[Cimmerian]

The purpose of an abstained vote in politics is for the expression 'I am/ will be satisfied with every result'. It is usually only provided in situations where voting is mandatory (Such as Parliament votes) as opposed to non-compulsory votes commonly found in democratic societies. Therefore your question as to why it exists is valid is it is non-compulsory to vote.

"None of the above" in the electoral situation of AVEN takes the form of direct protest, where the voter is dissatisfied with all candidates.

Should 'Abstain' hold the majority, it is often considered to be a 'symbolic' victory and the winning option is moved to the option with the highest number of votes following abstain.

However, this is all based in political science. I am unsure what it constitutes here on AVEN (Since I was not apart of the decision nor saw the process to creating it)

I've actually never heard of "abstain" being used this way. It may be because voting isn't mandatory here even for elected officials. I've only ever heard of an "abstain" vote being as a "non-vote". I know of it to be used if one doesn't have a significant opinion on the matter, doesn't feel informed enough to make a decision but wants to show they were there, or is too involved/has a conflict of interest.

If we're going to have "abstain" mean "I'd be happy with either", then I'd ask it just say the latter because I don't believe it's the common use of abstain everywhere.