On Thu, 6 Feb 2020 at 17:09, Peter Neale via Tagging < tagging@openstreetmap.org> wrote:
> > "abstain /əbˈsteɪn/ > verb > [...] > Powered by Oxford Dictionaries" > > So an abstention is NOT a vote > I thought I gave a link to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstention but I must have forgotten. I'll include the relevant parts here. *Abstention* is a term in election <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election> procedure for when a participant in a vote either does not go to vote (on election day) or, in parliamentary procedure <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliamentary_procedure>, is present during the vote, but does not cast a ballot.[1] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstention#cite_note-1> Abstention must be contrasted with "blank vote <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_vote>", in which a voter casts a ballot willfully made invalid by marking it wrongly or by not marking anything at all. A "blank (or white) voter" has voted, although their vote may be considered a spoilt vote <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoilt_vote>, So what we have in the approval process, despite being called an abstention, is NOT an abstention. It's a blank vote, aka white vote, because a ballot has been cast. The wiki confuses the terms "ballot" and "vote" in places, as well as misusing the term "abstention." Also, Abstentions do not count in tallying the vote negatively or positively; when members abstain, they are in effect attending only to contribute to a quorum <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quorum>. White votes, however, may be counted in the total of votes, depending on the legislation. The "legislation" (in this case past consensus of how things operate) was that blank/white votes ARE counted in the total of votes. Whether that should be the case going forward is something we could vote on. After we've voted on the rules for voting. After we've voted on the rules for voting on the rules for voting. -- Paul
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