A consensus voting mechanism

2023-08-23

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I recently went to an event where many decisions needed to happen and where consensus was important. With this backgound a person introduced a consensus voting mechanism developed to be effective in reaching consensus.

The process

First a proposal is presented to be voted on. Then there are four actions to take in a voting round.

1. Agreement This is signalled by raising your hand.
2. Counterproposal This is signalled by raising your fist.
3. Question This is signalled by raising a finger.
4. Indifference This is signalled by your palm facing the ground.

If someone has a question, then the question is asked and answered and a new voting round is made. If someone has a counterproposal then the proposal is presented and a new voting round is started based on the new proposal. If everyone is in agreement or are indifferent, a decision has been made.

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