Classics and the Western Canon discussion
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Changing votes
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Cass wrote: "I am curious if anyone else uses the ability to change votes in these polls? I know it could be seen as a negative feature, but it kind of allows the polls to be conducted at two levels within the ..."I do it sometimes, for the reasons you suggest, but it is harder in this group because of the weighted vote system. Not that you can't work out the scores yourself if you have the time, but it does make second-guessing the outcome harder.
Cass wrote: "I am curious if anyone else uses the ability to change votes in these polls? I know it could be seen as a negative feature, but it kind of allows the polls to be conducted at two levels within the ..."I consider it highly acceptable. As David notes, it's not quite as simple here because of the weighted voting, but it's perfectly acceptable to switch a vote if your first choice is clearly losing. After all, we want to wind up with the selection which has the greatest support.
I might note that you can see the ending date of the poll by clicking on the "comments and details" link. But if you're considering switching votes, be aware that the ending date is actually 12:01 am (I assume Eastern time) on the day listed. So that when a poll ends on February 9th, as our current poll does, that really means that you only have until midnight on February 8th to vote or change a vote. I've forgotten this once or twice and tried to vote on the poll ending day and been out of luck. So if you're thinking of changing votes, don't delay too long!
Thanks for the reassurance.I wonder how many people also change votes during the poll as they learn more about a book. I don't research every book in the list, but when I see some clear leaders I do go and read more about them which very often causes me to change my mind.
When I vote, I often change my vote. "This one." "No, THIS one." In this poll, I voted first for T. S. Eliot. And after a day or two, thought, no, I might like a break from modern after Joyce.
I think I changed my vote once, but it was on a tie-breaker poll. I voted for one book in the preliminary poll, then although it was in the tie-breaker poll, I switched sides. I went with PP this time. I have read it once, but I think it's worth a deeper look since it has influenced so much.
I rarely change my vote but then I'll either absolutely want to read a book and will vote for it regardless of how well it does. Or if I'm not particularly keen on one book, I'll wait until a day or two before voting ends and vote for one of the front runners.
Boy, you can always tell when I've been working a lot or otherwise busy, when I come so late to the discussion and/or reading! Anyway, I didn't realize you could vote more than once in the voting process. I suppose that is why I've always thought there should be at least two rounds of voting. The second round for the top 2 or 3 books receiving votes unless one has an overwhelming majority of votes. But now I know.
Chris wrote: "Boy, you can always tell when I've been working a lot or otherwise busy, when I come so late to the discussion and/or reading! Anyway, I didn't realize you could vote more than once in the voting ..."Well, to clarify, you can't vote twice, but you can change where your one vote goes. In case that wasn't clear.
I didn't 'change' my vote, but in the runnoff poll I didn't vote for the same one I voted for in the original poll - even though it was up for voting. The discussion gave me time to think about the alternative.
Theresa wrote: "I didn't 'change' my vote, but in the runnoff poll I didn't vote for the same one I voted for in the original poll - even though it was up for voting. The discussion gave me time to think about th..."Which is great.
I haven't seen a runoff poll since I joined the group last year.
Chris wrote: "I haven't seen a runoff poll since I joined the group last year."There's one on right now.
After some reflection, I changed my vote to "Pilgrim's Progress." As someone pointed out, it would be good to have an older book after all the time spent with Joyce. I definitely think we should read "Four Quartets" together sometime, though, possibly along with "The Wasteland." John Bunyan is a delightful writer.
That is, you vote first for the book that you want, regardless of whether you think it has a shot. A few days before the poll ends, if the book you voted for has no chance, effectively nullifying the strength of your vote in the immediate poll, then you change it so that it adds weight to one of the contenders.
For example, in the current poll I would vote for Emma, but I can see already that that book will not be a contender, still it is nice to throw the vote toward it, at least for a few days. Then as the poll draws to a close to be able to go place a legitimate vote onto one of the contending books (currently, PP, FQ, and MotF).
I think it is a good feature but I am wondering what the consensus is. Is is considered useful, bad form, etc.