Re: Secret votes HOWTO
>>"Richard" == Richard Braakman <dark@xs4all.nl> writes:
Richard> But the name on the final tally is definite proof of how a person
Richard> voted. This information is different from (and more sensitive than)
Richard> a person's claim of how they voted.
Indeed. And that can be desirable, at times.
Richard> One of the reasons that government elections have secret
Richard> ballots is to prevent intimidation of voters, or buying of
Richard> votes.
If intimidation of developers or vote buying is a serious
issue with a significant section of developers, and this can't be
resolved, then it is time for the project to die.
Richard> For the prevention to work, it must not be possible
Richard> for a person to vote non-anonymously, because if the option
Richard> exists then the intimidator/buyer can require that it is
Richard> used.
You can't prevent this from happening with the hash either. I
can make you put up your name, and the secret password you used, and
regenerate the hash to check.
And I'd just like to see someone try and prevent me from
publicly announcing my vote.
Richard> (I don't expect blatant forms of either practice to be a
Richard> problem in this project,
Glad to hear that.
Richard> but there may be subtler forms involving peer pressure or
Richard> other personal relationships.)
I would hope that developer are mature enough not to fall
victim to or victimize others on something as petty as a DPL
vote. Looking at the mailing lists, I would say that people rarely
are bothered by niceties such as tact, so subtle forms of
intimidation would be drowned in the noise.
Since the has does not prevent intimidation, or requiring that
you demonstrate that you voted as you say; all it is doing is clouding
issues, and making it harder for me to be open, and harder for people
to actually check that the secretary has correctly tabulated my
vote.
Any other technical reasons?
manoj
--
I distrust a close-mouthed man. He generally picks the wrong time to
talk and says the wrong things. Talking's something you can't do
judiciously, unless you keep in practice. Now, sir, we'll talk if
you like. I'll tell you right out, I'm a man who likes talking to a
man who likes to talk. Sidney Greenstreet, "The Maltese Falcon"
Manoj Srivastava <srivasta@debian.org> <http://www.debian.org/%7Esrivasta/>
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