status: https://faculty.washington.edu/kerim/nomic/cases/#3758
(This document is informational only and contains no game actions).
=============================== CFJ 3758 ===============================
It is possible to publish a notice that satisfies condition 4 of
Rule 683.
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Caller: Jason Cobb
Judge: Trigon
Judgement: TRUE
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History:
Called by Jason Cobb: 17 Jul 2019 05:52:03
Assigned to Trigon: 17 Jul 2019 23:44:37
Judged TRUE by Trigon: 18 Jul 2019 20:05:32
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Caller's Arguments:
For a player to submit a ballot, the purported ballot must
"clearly identif[y] a valid vote, as determined by the voting
method." My reading is that, for this condition to be satisfied,
the vote that the ballot purports to cast must be a vote that is
an element of the set of "valid votes" that the voting method
determines. That is, the "by" describes an agent, since it
obviously does not create a method (it is not possible to
perform "the voting method", since it is not an action).
If Rule 683 were to instead read "as determined by Rule 2528",
then that would work fine, since Rule 2528 is a textual entity,
and is thus capable of determining the value of the set of valid
votes (in this case, Rule 2528 does so by explicitly stating
what the valid votes are, thus making a determination).
However, in its current wording, Rule 683 makes it incumbent
upon the voting method itself to determine the valid options.
Since no voting method actually does this, there is no possible
element of the set of "valid votes, as determined by the voting
method" that can be used to satisfy condition 4. I argue that
this CFJ should be judged FALSE.
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Caller's Evidence:
Excerpt from Rule 683 ("Voting on Agoran Decisions"):
An entity submits a ballot on an Agoran decision by publishing a
notice satisfying the following conditions:
1. The ballot is submitted during the voting period for the
decision.
2. The entity casting the ballot (the voter) was, at the initiation
of the decision, a player.
3. The ballot clearly identifies the matter to be decided.
4. The ballot clearly identifies a valid vote, as determined by the
voting method.
5. The ballot clearly sets forth the voter's intent to place the
identified vote.
6. The voter has no other valid ballots on the same decision.
Excerpt from Rule 2528 ("Voting Methods"):
The valid votes on an Agoran decision are:
1. PRESENT;
2. The valid conditional votes, as defined by rules of power at
least that of this rule; and
3. For an instant runoff decision, the ordered lists of entities.
4. For any other decision, the valid options.
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Judge Trigon's Arguments:
In order for a judgement of FALSE to apply here, there is one major
contrivance that one must make: limiting the usage of the word "by" and
specifically, the usage of the phrase "as determined by."
The caller submits that this phrase, as used in Rule 683/26, creates
some sort of obligation for an imaginary entity called the "voting
method" to determine the valid votes. Were the voting method an entity,
the caller's reading might be the truest reading; however, no such
entity exists as the voting method is actually a property of each Agoran
Decision (Rule 2528/0).
The list of valid votes is enumerated in Rule 2528/0, including those
specific to each voting method. This is reasonable enough justification
for the interpretation that the voting method as a property of each
Agoran Decision determines which votes may be cast on the decision. I
judge TRUE.
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