Re: Proposed constitution fix for n+1-majorities
On Wed, Jan 07, 2009 at 12:39:54AM +0100, Andreas Barth wrote:
> this is a proposal to fix the n+1-bug in the constitution:
> In A.6.3.2, this sentence is changed:
> An option A defeats the default option D by a majority ratio N, if V(A,D)
> is strictly greater than N * V(D,A).
> to:
> An option A defeats the default option D by a majority ratio 1, if V(A,D)
> is strictly greater than V(D,A), or (for N > 1) if V(A,D) is at least N *
> V(D,A).
> Background: In case of majority requirements N > 1, we require that more
> than N * people vote in favour of the option than against (instead of "at
> least N *"). This isn't a real issue for normal GRs, but it is an issue for
> the tech ctte.
While it may not be a "real issue" for GRs, the proposed change nevertheless
does change the supermajority requirements for GRs. I don't object to this
myself, but is it going to be generally acceptable to developers to change
the GR procedure because of a bug that's specific to the TC?
> Consider that e.g. 4 people (out of currently 5) take part in a vote
> whether to overrule a developer, and 3 vote for overruling, and 1 against.
> Then (according to normal language) we reached the 3:1-majority of
> constitution 6.1.4. However, according to the counting rules, we missed
> it.
The constitution does already specify that the TC chair has a casting
vote, although it's not altogether clear what this means for
condorcet+supermajority. I think a rational interpretation would be that if
an option defeats the default option by exactly N:1, the chair's vote
determines whether that option is considered to pass the majority
requirement. If you agree, perhaps we're better off codifying that, instead
of adjusting the interpretation of supermajority requirements themselves?
Apologies for not thinking of this when the question was being discussed
earlier.
--
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Debian Developer to set it on, and I can move the world.
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