Arguments for TRUE:
This phrase is the crux of the discussion, bracketing the relevant
clause: "as determined [by the voting method]."
Jason Cobb's arguments assume that [by the voting method] specifies an
agent, in the same way as one might say "The defendant is found guilty
[by the court]." But I think a more likely interpretation is that it
specifies an instrument, in the same way one might say "The court made
its decision [by examining the evidence at hand.]" The evidence itself
does not make the decision, but the decision is implied to be justified
by the evidence.
In the same way, the valid options are those that are justified by the
chosen method. Valid options for a chosen method are explicitly listed
in the rules, so there's no ambiguity about what those options are.
On 7/17/19 12:52 AM, Jason Cobb wrote:
Okay, I think "submit" is the wrong word there, so I retract my
previously submitted CFJ.
I CFJ: "It is possible to publish a notice that satisfies condition 4
of Rule 683."
Evidence
Excerpt from Rule 683 ("Voting on Agoran Decisions"):
An entity submits a ballot on an Agoran decision by
publishing a notice satisfying the following conditions:
1. The ballot is submitted during the voting period for the
decision.
2. The entity casting the ballot (the voter) was, at the
initiation of the decision, a player.
3. The ballot clearly identifies the matter to be decided.
4. The ballot clearly identifies a valid vote, as
determined by the voting method.
5. The ballot clearly sets forth the voter's intent to
place the identified vote.
6. The voter has no other valid ballots on the same decision.
Excerpt from Rule 2528 ("Voting Methods"):
The valid votes on an Agoran decision are:
1. PRESENT;
2. The valid conditional votes, as defined by rules of
power at least that of this rule; and
3. For an instant runoff decision, the ordered lists of
entities.
4. For any other decision, the valid options.
Arguments
For a player to submit a ballot, the purported ballot must
"clearly identif[y] a valid vote, as determined by the voting
method." My reading is that, for this condition to be satisfied,
the vote that the ballot purports to cast must be a vote that is
an element of the set of "valid votes" that the voting method
determines. That is, the "by" describes an agent, since it
obviously does not create a method (it is not possible to
perform "the voting method", since it is not an action).
If Rule 683 were to instead read "as determined by Rule 2528",
then that would work fine, since Rule 2528 is a textual entity,
and is thus capable of determining the value of the set of valid
votes (in this case, Rule 2528 does so by explicitly stating
what the valid votes are, thus making a determination).
However, in its current wording, Rule 683 makes it incumbent
upon the voting method itself to determine the valid options.
Since no voting method actually does this, there is no possible
element of the set of "valid votes, as determined by the voting
method" that can be used to satisfy condition 4. I argue that
this CFJ should be judged FALSE.
