The community voting system balances broad participation with informed decision-making through a structured process. Members engage with an AI dialogue system to demonstrate understanding of proposals - their benefits, drawbacks, resource requirements, and community impact - before voting. This replaces traditional age or status restrictions with a focus on comprehension, allowing any member who can articulate basic understanding to participate. All aspects are public record, including vote rationale and AI dialogue transcripts. Proposals undergo a 10-day public review where sponsors gather feedback and make adjustments, followed by a 10-day voting period requiring 50-95% support depending on impact level. The system emphasizes consensus-building over simple majority rule, with the goal of reaching decisions that address community concerns while effectively utilizing member talents and passion.
#### Proposal Process
1. proposal review: 10 days public review, sponsor elicits feedback and updates proposal, 1/3 of community must agree to bring to vote
- proposal vote allows for implementation suggestions/alternatives
2. consensus building: 10 days rolling public votes, no proposal changes, quorum of 75% needed
- sponsor(s) responsible for: initial documentation, community engagement, proposal refinement, deliberation facilitation
- workshopped initial proposal → 10 days review (changes allowed) → 10 days voting (locked) → implementation/cooling
- [[voting example - governance - village living]]
#### Standard Proposal Format
- goal: lay person can understand in less than 5 minutes
- overview: 1 paragraph for purpose and goals, community impact, implementation timeline
- proposal summary: initial and ongoing costs, labor requirements, expected outputs/benefits
- real time community feedback: votes, commitment, support/oppose rationale
#### Voting Rationale & Op-Ed Process
##### Voting Rationale (Summary)
- A concise statement (one or two sentences)
- Appears on the `voting page` for quick reference.
- Position (support/oppose)
##### Linked Op-Ed (Detailed Points Justifying Rationale)
- A public op-ed-style piece that elaborates on a rationale
#### Voting Mechanics
- goal: help members make informed decisions that affect the community by
1. considering multiple perspectives
2. recognizing resource constraints/opportunities
3. understanding how other's in the community feel
- one informed member 1 vote
- No age restrictions
- No language/articulation restrictions
- Focus on demonstrating understanding, not testing
##### Understanding Check
1. Member reviews proposal
2. Through AI dialogue, show genuine understanding:
- Understanding of the proposal in their own words
- Required community commitments
- Expected community benefits
- At least 2 rationale why supporters might favor it
- At least 2 rationale why others might oppose it
- Their personal position and reasoning
##### Votes are Public Record
including:
- Support or opposition
- personal Resource Commitments:
- Labor Commitment (hours/week beyond your community commitment)
- Financial Commitment ($)
- Expertise Contribution (specific skills/knowledge offered)
- acceptance of outcome
- Accept outcome and community costs
- Cannot accept opposing outcome
- Implementation Input
- Support reasoning (selected from categories)
- Opposition reasoning (selected from categories)
- Implementation suggestions/alternatives
- Documentation
- Qualifying AI dialogue transcript showing proposal understanding
#### Goals
- the primary goal is `consensus`, for the community to have a shared decision on key issues where everyone's concerns are addressed and passion/talents are effectively utilized
- ideally >90% implementation agreement and > 95% core agreement
- 5 minute proposal comprehension making civic participation is simple and quick
#### Thresholds And Requirements
| vote type | trigger | support required | examples | notes |
| ------------------------ | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------- |
| constitutional amendment | 1/3 members | 75% | basic needs definitions, member rights/responsibilities, governance structure changes | 90-day cooling period |
| project proposal | 1/3 members | 75% | new facilities/systems, major renovations | requires qualified lead |
| member removal | 1/3 members | 95% | | requires prior mediation |
| member addition | 1/3 members | 75% | | requires onboarding process |
| general proposal | 1/3 members | 50% | process improvements, community activities | community improvements |