Yes. JoseTheodore2002 seems to be the missing ballot of the 32 participants - though we did receive a ballot from a non-participant. However doing Open Balloting might be tough with my schedule this year.
I am in favour of open balloting, but with strict limits.
- This should be someone that we know. Has posted a lot in the HOH or ATD section before. Big Phil, MS, Jack Slater, vadim sharifijanov, BillyShoe, pitseleh, Robert Gordon Orr, and so on. Those are some of the best candidates but I'm not saying we need to limit it to the best dozen or so. There are potentially a few hundred who'd be acceptable.
- Depending on our confidence in their objectivity, we should have seen them in the thread in the discussion. They should have made a few posts and replied to a few posts by others, indicating they are reading what's being said.
- They should not have the appearance of just "having a horse in the race" - i.e. they suddenly showed up when Pavel Bure was up for voting
- Their vote should
definitely not have that appearance
- If they just show up for the first time in round 8 then I'd wonder about them being here with an agenda. If round 8 is their 4th vote then they're all good by then. We build trust in them as they commit more time to the project.
There's no set formula I can give for whether we should accept a ballot from a non-participant. It would have to be decided on a case by case basis. But I do like the idea of having it based on as many (informed, objective) opinions as possible.