Path: utzoo!attcan!telly!eci386!jmm
From: jmm@eci386.uucp (John Macdonald)
Newsgroups: news.groups
Subject: Re: Voter registration (was Re: Suspicious Results of sci.aquaria vote)
Message-ID: <1989Nov21.004504.1803@eci386.uucp>
Date: 21 Nov 89 00:45:04 GMT
References: <4199@nigel.udel.EDU> <2421@stl.stc.co.uk> <48464@bbn.COM>
Reply-To: jmm@eci386.UUCP (John Macdonald)
Organization: R. H. Lathwell Associates: Elegant Communications, Inc.
Lines: 33

In article <48464@bbn.COM> mesard@BBN.COM (Wayne Mesard) writes:
>
>Okay, if we're interested in taking this democracy thang seriously, I
>propose that we institute [da da da dahhhh] Voter Registration: In
>central [gasp] authority [gasp] two months before the call for votes.

This throws out the baby with the bathwater.

Part of the justification for the current voting system is that it
allows determining that there will be a minimal level of interest
in the proposed group.

/* disclaimer - personal opinion unvalidated by scientific evidence */
Most of the people who vote for a group are stating that they are
interested in the topic and would participate (at least by reading)
such a group.
/* end of opinion */

By disallowing votes from people who are not "seriously interested in
participating in group discussion" you disallow most of the people who
would vote for the group. (Remember, calls for votes on group creation
are posted to *all groups that might contain interested readers*, not
just news.groups.)  You are right that your change would prevent (those
rare until sci.aquaria) people who vote frivolously, but this is done
by preventing people who would be voting in a most appropriate manner.

I can't see any way to prevent voting because "Joe says I should", that
doesn't also prevent voting because "they finally got around to proposing
a group that I'm interested in".
-- 
80386 - hardware demonstrating the fractal nature of warts.   | John Macdonald
EMS/LIM - software demonstrating the fractal nature of warts. |   jmm@eci386