Description
There are a few couple of places in the Process which define a decision as being made by a majority or a super majority, without being clear about whether we consider the (super) majority of those who did vote, or of those who were eligible to vote regardless of whether they did. Some are also ambiguous about whether we how we count explicit "abstain" votes. We should disambiguate. The appropriate answer might differ case by case, and we might need to split this issue if some of these points turn out to be contentious, but here's a first pass at it.
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https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process/Drafts/#ABParticipation:
The Chair(s) are subject to ratification by secret ballot by two thirds of the AB upon appointment.
I think the intent is two thirds or more of those eligible to vote (i.e., AB elected participants). Clarification might not be completely necessary here, but we could go with
[…] two thirds of
the ABAB elected participants […]to make sure there is absolutely no doubt.
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https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process/Drafts/#TAG-appointments
The Team's choice of appointee(s) is subject to ratification by secret ballot by both the AB and the TAG, each requiring a two-thirds approval.
This is the one I am least sure about. I'm tempted to go with ratification failing if 1/3 or more of those eligible to vote explicitly vote against.
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https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process/Drafts/#council-participation
each dismissal is decided by simple majority of those not abstaining.
I used to think this was not ambiguous, because I thought that "abstaining" meant "not participating in a vote", but I have been told that native English speakers take it to mean "explicitly decline to take sides". I think we should go with
each dismissal is enacted if there are more ballots for than against
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https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process/Drafts/#council-deliberations
However, if despite careful deliberation a W3C Council is unable to reach consensus, the W3C Council Chair may instead resort to voting. In that case, the decision is made by simple majority, with the W3C Council Chair breaking any tie.
Suggestion:
[…]the decision is
made by simple majorityapproved if there are more votes in favor than against[…]
Note: Here are other cases of majority or super majority, which in my view, are already non ambiguous.
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https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process/Drafts/#council-delegation
A decision to delegate must be supported by a two-thirds supermajority vote (i.e., at least twice as many votes in favor as against).
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https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process/Drafts/#ABParticipation and https://www.w3.org/Consortium/Process/Drafts/#tag-participation
Chair selection must be run at least at the start of each regular term, as well as when a majority of the participants request it