Wikipedia:Vote

votes on wikipedia - a proposal by Martin

See also: Wikipedia:Decision Making Process (and probably stuff on meta too...)

Wikipedia is not a democracy. In general decisions are made by consensus (see consensus decision making) rather than a strict majority rule[?]. However, on occasion it is useful to have a quick summary of the positions of different wikipedians on some issue, as an aid to achieving consensus and an indication of which options have the most support. A sample (and not real) "vote block" might look like:

• Use BCE and CE for years
  • Alice Springs[?], EfferVescent[?], NotARealUser[?]
• Use AD and BC for years
  • FictionalName[?], Fred Bloggs[?] (but redirect from BCE and CE), MadeUp[?], user:Zanimum (why go against the stream?)
• Allow both as equally acceptable alternatives
  • OnTheFence[?] (the wiki way!), Fred Bloggs[?] (second choice)

Wikipedians sign their names using three tildes (~~~) against the position they support, possibly adding brief comments afterwards in brackets. If a user is happy with more than one possibility, they may wish to add their names to more than one place. Extended commentary should be placed outside the voting block.

It is debatable whether it is acceptable for creators of vote blocks to attempt to guess the explicit positions of others who have contributed.

In general, avoid deleting vote blocks, as they serve as a useful summary of past debate for future readers of a policy or article.

If the majority of opinion is in one direction, but a significant minority of people oppose it, work to find a solution that can be accepted by as many people as possible. Voting blocks are not an excuse for riding roughshod over minority voices!

See also: Wikipedia:List of ongoing votes