Voting on a Decision
Find open Decisions, vote, change your vote, and see results.
Where
Tap Commons, then Decide. Open Decisions are under Open Decisions. To propose one, tap Start something (on the phone, the round + button) on Commons, then pick Decision (or tap + Propose a Decision on Decide). See "Proposing a Decision".
A Decision is binding: if it passes, your community's server carries it out by itself. An admin can stop one only by giving a written reason that members can read. The rules for who can vote, how much turnout is needed and how much Yes is needed are in "Rules and how decisions work".
The global community has no Decisions. Anyone can join it, with 12 words or a sign-in, so one person with several accounts could swing a vote there. Its moderators look after it instead: see "Reporting a problem". Decisions belong to local communities. Polls still work everywhere.
On the global community, Commons shows an example Decision from a local community, marked 🏘️ Local community, so you can see how one works. Its Vote YES and Vote NO buttons say why voting lives in a local community, and cast nothing. See "Beans and the global community".
Reading a Decision
Each Decision shows:
- what it is about, and what will happen if it passes;
- how the votes count: one member one vote, or voice credits for decisions about the Commons' beans;
- how long is left. Voting runs for 7 days;
- Turnout: how many votes it needs, and whether it has them yet;
- Tally: the Yes and No so far, and how much Yes it needs.
A vote on removing a member also shows who brought the case (the admin who suspended them), and the member's own reply, beside the case, once they have written one. If an admin hid the case because it was shown to be false, you read the admin's reason in its place. If an admin took down the reply because it harmed someone, you read their reason in the reply's place. When a vote on removing a member opens, everyone who can vote on it gets an alert on their phone, except where a jury decides: then only the jurors get one, saying they were drawn (see "When a jury decides" below). Where fewer than 3 members can vote on it, the vote says so: if nobody else votes, an owner decides when it closes, and once one has, you read their reason beside the case. See "Rules and how decisions work".
If the vote is about you, the card says you can't vote on it, and offers Reply to this case while it is open, and Report this case as false.
When a jury decides
In a large community a vote on removing a member is decided by a jury of members drawn at random, not by everyone (see "Rules and how decisions work"). You can tell from the card: "A jury of 12 members, drawn at random, decides by 5 Nov."
- Everyone can read the case and the member's answer, and see how many jurors have voted, like "7 of 12 jurors have voted". The Yes and No stay hidden until the vote closes. If you weren't drawn, you get no alert when the vote opens, and the card says "Only the jury votes on this." and has no vote buttons.
- If you were drawn, your phone tells you, and the card says "You were drawn for this jury." Tap Serve and then vote, or Step aside, within 72 hours. Nobody is told why you stepped aside. If you don't answer, your seat goes to the next member drawn. Once you have voted you stay on the jury, and can change your vote until it closes.
- Check the draw is on the card for everyone. It tells you that the draw checks out, or that the list the server gave doesn't match its own record.
- After it closes, the card says how it ended, like "The jury kept Dave.", and lists who voted and who didn't serve, never how anyone voted or why someone didn't serve.
Voting
- Tap Vote YES or Vote NO. On the phone, the app says Vote Recorded. In the web app, the card updates.
- The card then says what you voted, like "You voted Yes".
- To change your mind before it closes, tap the other button, such as Change to No.
Every Decision is a secret ballot. Members see the totals, never who voted how. Your own vote is shown only to you. On a vote a jury decides, the totals show only once it has closed.
Decisions about the Commons' beans
These use voice credits. You get voice credits from your completed trades, fresh for each Decision. Use − and + to choose how many votes to give. More votes cost more: 2 votes cost 4 credits, 3 votes cost 9.
If you have not completed a trade yet, you cannot vote on these. You can still vote on the other Decisions, as long as you joined before they opened. A freeze on your credit does not stop you voting.
Results
Tap Decisions History. Choose All, Executed, Failed or Void. Each shows the final turnout and tally, and what happened, for example that too few people voted. A removal a jury decided also shows who voted and who didn't serve.
More
On the phone, tap the ⓘ beside the Commons title for how the Commons' beans and voting work. In the web app, open the Ledger, tap Wallet, then Commons Pool ⓘ.
Related
- Proposing a DecisionAsk the community to decide something binding.
- Rules and how decisions workVoting, turnout, secret ballots, who may vote, suspension, removing a member, small communities, keepers, and convenors and lead convenors.
- PollsAsk the community a quick question. Polls show opinion; they change nothing by themselves.
- The CommonsYour community's shared beans: where they come from, and how they are spent.
- The top barThe bean, the small icons that show when something needs you, and the buttons at the top right.
- Beans and the global communityWhat the global community is for, one community among many, and what you see there: the 🏘️ Local community marker, the example community Example Valley, why Beans wait there, and how to start or find a local community.
The same guide is in the BeanPool app, and works there without a connection: open Settings, then "Help & how it works" under BeanPool. Every other rule, guide and manual is in the Help Centre. Guide version 165.