Key Properties of our Voting System
This section outlines the essential properties that we want our new voting system to have. These goals were discussed and agreed upon within the community to ensure a fair and transparent approach to our elections:
- The system should not be easily manipulated by one person or a small group.
- Larger communities should have a proportionate influence.
- Candidates should be evaluated based on their individual merits, regardless of their fellow candidates.
To achieve these goals, we have chosen the Majority Judgment system (learn more here and here), which elects candidates with the highest median scores.
Voting Process
We have established a clear voting process to ensure transparency and fairness in the election of Archons:
- Between September 15th and September 30th, any voting member can propose a candidate for election. At the end of this period, nominated candidates must accept their nominations, or they will not be included in the vote.
- From October 1st until October 15th, Archons will be elected using the Majority Judgment method. This process will be executed on Discord as follows:
- Voters will grade candidates based on their suitability as Archons: Excellent (ideal), Very Good, Good, Acceptable, Poor, or Reject.
- The final grade for each candidate will be the median of all voter grades.
- The top five nominees with the highest grades will be elected as Archons.
- In case of a tie, the number of votes equal to or higher than the highest median will be counted.
- Candidates receiving a grade of “poor” or “reject” cannot become Archons. This could lead in rare cases to less then five members in the council.
Example
Let’s illustrate this process with a simple example:
Step 1: How People Vote
People give grades to the candidates: Excellent, Very Good, Good, Acceptable, Poor, or Reject. Here’s what the grades look like for each candidate:
- A: 5 Reject, 12 Poor, 20 Acceptable, 20 Good, 22 Very Good, and 21 Excellent
- B: 20 Reject, 42 Poor, 10 Acceptable, 14 Good, 12 Very Good, and 2 Excellent
- C: 2 Reject, 10 Poor, 20 Acceptable, 35 Good, 25 Very Good, and 8 Excellent
- D: 12 Reject, 30 Poor, 22 Acceptable, 17 Good, 14 Very Good, and 5 Excellent
Step 2: Finding the Median
Now, we want to find the middle grade for each candidate. We start adding the grades from the best (Excellent) to the worst (Reject) until we get more than 50%.
- For Candidate A, we add Excellent + Very Good + Good, and it’s more than 50%, so A’s median is “Good.”
- For Candidate B, we add Excellent + Very Good + Good + Acceptable, and it’s more than 50%, so B’s median is “Acceptable.”
- For Candidate C, we add Excellent + Very Good + Good + Acceptable, and it’s more than 50%, so C’s median is also “Acceptable.”
- For Candidate D, we add Excellent + Very Good + Good + Acceptable, and it’s not more than 50%, so D’s median is “Good.”
Step 3: Breaking a Tie
Now, we have a tie between A and C because they both have a median of “Acceptable.” To decide, we count how many people gave them grades of “Good” or better.
- A got 63 votes of “Good” or better.
- C got 58 votes of “Good” or better.
Since A got more votes, A is elected as Archon!
Remember, this example shows how we calculate the grades. For voters, they simply give their opinion about each candidate. We want to make sure our Archons are the ones most people think are good for the job.
A big thank you to Afedioun who proposed this system!