[jikl]

I abstained because I am sick of the subject and really don't want to read any more of it so there is no way I can make an informed opinion on something I don't care about anymore. Much like many elections I guess

Sean

[mycroft]

I did the right thing - didn't abstain, just didn't vote. And typed instead.

Seriously, though, look at the ACBL board of director minutes. There's *always* a few abstentions. Mostly for conflict of interest issues. (side note: in the last municipal election, I abstained from voting for public school commissioner for my ward. I have and will have absolutely no stake in the matter, and had no way of making an effective judgement between the players. What random vote would have been better than letting a plurality of people with a stake or an opinion decide?)

What would have happened had this been the Bermuda Bowl USA 1? Not that they would do this, of course...but if it had?

Does anybody want the NPC of the team voting on anything to do with that? If she votes no, then she's "just playing favourites, it would have been a sanction if one member hadn't been married to the president of the USBF" - especially if it were the deciding vote. If, after that, there ever is a sanction from the USBF, later, for anything, I guarantee there would be a lawsuit. However, if she votes yes, then, well, I wouldn't want to be her (or her husband) for the next few months...possibly years, if it led to "you can't trust her, so don't hire/play with either of 'em". Plus, of course, the feelings/rumours of "well, she obviously couldn't vote 'no' (for all the reasons above), so she had to vote yes, and probably (tried to, if the sanction carried) rigged the vote to make sure that her vote didn't affect the result." that would follow forever.

That's called a conflict of interest, folks, and there's a reason why rules about conflict of interest are written into most, if not all, judgment board by-laws (sometimes by inference. Here's what Robert's Rules of Order FAQ list has to say about it under Robert's:

Under the rules in RONR, no member can be compelled to refrain from voting simply because it is perceived that he or she may have some "conflict of interest" with respect to the motion under consideration. If a member has a direct personal or pecuniary (monetary) interest in a motion under consideration not common to other members, the rule in RONR is that he should not vote on such a motion, but even then he or she cannot be compelled to refrain from voting. [RONR (10th ed.), p. 394, l. 15-25.] emphasis in original, from http://www.robertsrules.com/faq.html#9. Note that the WBF Executive uses Robert's Rules as specified in their By-Laws.)

I wouldn't vote for someone who voted for something that was in his or her personal interest over the interest of his constituency or organization, as appropriate (of course, that means that were I a United States Citizen, I'd have to vote for Fritz the Cat, I guess - even Mickey Mouse has done a lot of things that were clearly conflict of interest).

(as a side note, even though it doesn't mean much, I always vote in elections I am eligible for. I know I have no power (especially in Alberta), but what little I have is being taken away from me, and I won't actively help them do that. However, there's an idea in Ontario that I think is a good one: you can refuse your ballot. You show up, do all the things to vote, take your ballots, and hand them back. The fact that a person did this must be counted, and must be in the totals. This is a way of saying "nobody's worth voting for" that is unambiguous and doesn't get counted as "too lazy to vote".)

Michael.

[han]

I voted for "I have zero bridge credentials", but I wish I had voted for cherdano and gnome. Not that I read what they wrote in the other thread, but it is quite rare that they are on the same side of an argument so I bet they are right.

[jdonn]

Why am I not surprised that "Cherdano/Gnome" are tied with "0 bridge credentials"

[Aberlour10]

Necro of the week. This excellent poll deserves definitely more votes.

[gwnn]

All replies are written in bold. scary.

[kenberg]

Ah yes, maybe I sort of recall.
Some idiots used an awards ceremony to make a political statement and some other idiots made a big deal out of it. That was it, wasn't it?

[semeai]

gwnn said:

All replies are written in bold. scary.

And now they're all in italics too?

[semeai]

[quote name='[i]someName'[/i]]theQuote[/quote]

is what did that, or the same with b instead of i for bold

[helene_t]

I notice an increase in the vote for "I am not sufficiently informed ...", "I have zero..." and "I don't understand ...". This confirms what have been observed in other recent threads, namely that BBF posters get more and more stupid as time progresses. It would be nice to have time stamps on the individual votes so that such a hypothesis could be tested scientifically.

[gwnn]

scary stuff...

[hotShot]

Let dead threads rest in peace.

[Free]

Here's one for you: how can someone vote "abstain" when the question is "why don't you vote"?

[babalu1997]

Free, on 2011-September-08, 06:00, said:

Here's one for you: how can someone vote "abstain" when the question is "why don't you vote"?

because the bidding went

pass by me- 1 spade by opp- dbl by partner- 3sapdes by opp
pass by me- pass by opp- dbl by partner-- all pass

i jach fifth spades, i apssed, he said i was an idiot

this game is not for me

[onoway]

Polls in these forums always stump me as on my computer all I ever get is the bare poll, never any info at all as to what the question under discussion is or what the poll is actually about. Only way to try to figure it out is to read all the posts and make assumptions. Computers and I have an uneasy relationship so there's probably a button somewhere that connects to the actual question but I've never found it.

I'd be surprised if I was the only BBOer with a computer that does this, which might explain why many of us never vote on polls, even those we might actually have an opinion about.

[ggwhiz]

I'm a Druid and worship shrubs and hedges. We don't vote.

[helene_t]

onoway, on 2011-September-08, 19:53, said:

Polls in these forums always stump me as on my computer all I ever get is the bare poll, never any info at all as to what the question under discussion is or what the poll is actually about. Only way to try to figure it out is to read all the posts and make assumptions. Computers and I have an uneasy relationship so there's probably a button somewhere that connects to the actual question but I've never found it.

I'd be surprised if I was the only BBOer with a computer that does this, which might explain why many of us never vote on polls, even those we might actually have an opinion about.

hmmmm ... in this case it was intentional, I made a nonsense poll as a parody of a nonsense discussion in another thread with which most forum regulars were familiar back then.

Today it is probably somewhat obscure. Maybe it's time to add an "I might have voted but I honestly don't remember" option. But if you want to contribute you can always vote "I don't understand this poll", which is IMO the best answer anyway.

[diana_eva]

Actually I think she means she doesnt see the question for ANY of the BBF polls. The question is in the red bar above the poll. Pam, scroll up and check the white text in the red bar to see what's the subject.

[gwnn]

Doug Stanhope ftw

[kenberg]

Helene! You did not really care about my opinion??? I'm crushed.