During Agora, there can be many scary words going around if you’re there for the first time – especially if you’re a delegate. Don’t worry, the Chair Team is here for the rescue! In this article, the Schulze method (ranked voting) will be explained, so you can come a bit more prepared.

What is ranked voting?

Ranked voting is a type of online voting where instead of simply casting votes, delegates are asked to rank their preferences. It is currently used for the EPM topic selection, and was used for selecting the Focus Areas for Strategic Plan 2017-2020 (in combination with voting on the number of focus areas). Ranked voting was introduced to the CIA by a proposal in Agora Bergamo, and has been used in practice since Agora Chisinau.

What is the Schulze method?

The Schulze method is a specific way of ranked voting which is in the CIA used for ranked voting (by the same proposal in Agora Bergamo). It was developed in 1997 by Markus Schulze as an electoral system for selecting a single winner by using votes that express preferences. Without getting into too many details, the method works with the following system: voters make an ordered preference list (aka ranking the options) where ties and/or leaving out options are allowed. Then for every two options, they are compared (ignoring the other options), checking which option is more preferred by the voters. After the options are compared, the system calculates the strongest paths (aka which option is the most preferred overall by all voters) and the final results are made.

Looks confusing? Here is an example supported by Wikipedia:

Let’s assume that there have been 5 topics submitted for EPM, named A, B, C, D and E. There have been 45 votes cast in the following order:

Number of voters           Order of preference

5                                       ACBED

5                                       ADECB

8                                      BEDAC

3                                      CABED

7                                      CAEBD

2                                      CBADE

7                                      DCEBA

8                                      EBADC

First, the pairwise preferences are calculated which will look like this:

Green means that the voters preferred the option in the column, red means that the voters preferred the option in the row (for example, 20 voters preferred topic A over B, and 25 who preferred topic B over A).

For the next step, the strongest paths are calculated (how it is exactly done is visualised with direct graphs in the Wikipedia article), which will look like this:

Green means that the voters preferred the option in the column, red means that the voters preferred the option in the row (for example, 28 voters preferred topic A over B, and 25 who preferred topic B over A, so with the Schulze method topic A is better than topic B).

Based on the Schulze method, the ranking is E>A>C>B>D, therefore topic E is selected for the topic of the EPM.

How the method is visualised in the AEGEE voting system you can see it in the following pictures:

The Schulze method has been selected for voting for the following reasons:

• It allows the delegates to make ties for the ranking (they can rank one or several options as same importance)
• It allows the delegates to leave out options (they can leave an option out of the ranking if they feel strongly against it)
• It reflects on the majority decision (the option which is preferred by most voters in general)

We hope that with this article we could give you a bit of help for understanding the Schulze method as ranked voting in AEGEE! In case you have any questions or doubts, don’t hesitate to ask us before Agora at chair@aegee.org, or at the HRC help desk during the Agora!

Written by Tekla Hajdu, Chair Team jobshadower

During Agora, there can be many scary words going around if you are there for the first time – especially if you are a delegate. Don’t worry, the Chair Team is here for the rescue! In this article, all types of voting will be explained alongside what we will specifically vote on at Agora Catania, so you can come a bit more prepared.

Ratifying by acclamation

This is the most simple way of ratification, which is simply done by clapping. It is used for ratifying a decision or action. In case there are objections, it is possible to ask for indicative voting.

What we’ll ratify at Agora Catania:

• Ratification of Elisa Tabbi as Vice-Chairperson of the Agora
• Ratification of the Agenda of Agora Catania
• Ratification of minutes Agora Chisinau
• Ratification of minutes Agora Enschede
• Ratification of the Advisory Board of AEGEE-Europe
• Ratification of Liaison Officers
• Ratification of Europe on Track 5 project
• Ratification of the extension of Election Observation Project
• Ratification of the change of the status of The AEGEEan from project to Committee
• Ratification of to-be upgraded Contacts’ Activity Plan
• Ratification of Network Status Update Agora Catania
• Ratification of host local Autumn Agora 2018

Indicative voting

This is the type of voting which requires the red and green ballots that the Juridical Commission is giving out to delegates when they register at their table. Indicative voting is used in case the Chair Team (or the proposers) would like to get the opinion of the Plenary or Prytanium about a proposal or other matters, or delegates and envoys can request this method first in case they have an objection towards a ratification. In the case of indicative voting, delegates are asked to express their opinion by showing the green or the red ballot (the question and the meaning of the ballots will be explained beforehand). In case the results are not clear or if a delegate/envoy asks for other types of voting, the Chair Team will either move the voting online or will continue with a roll call.

Roll Call

This is the ultimate type of voting, when the decision is binding towards the Agora. On the request of the Chair Team or delegates/envoys, the Chair will ask every local to cast the number of votes they have one by one. Delegates can vote in favour, against or abstention in their case. The Juridical Commission is telling the delegates the number of votes they have (which is regulated by the CIA based on the number of members a local has) during registration, and they are checking on spot whether the number of votes cast are correct in case of a roll call. A roll call vote should be cast in the following way:

• AEGEE-Local number 1, 3 in favour, 1 against, 2 abstentions
• AEGEE-Local number 2, 1 in favour

As a roll call takes significant amount of time, it is usually used as a last resort, and in the recent Agorae, whenever it’s possible the votings are moved online.

Voting by ballots

This type of voting is used to vote on the candidatures. Each antenna’s delegates receive as many ballots as the number of votes they have from the Juridical Commission during the registration at their table. The ballot papers are color-coded for each position for easier vote-counting. During the voting session, delegates need to mark the candidates (with an x or +) that they would like to cast their votes on, or leave them blank in case they do not wish to cast their vote. The Juridical Commission will explain the voting process for each position.

What positions we’ll vote on at Agora Catania:

• Chairperson/Vice-Chairperson of the Agora (2 places)
• Member of Audit Commission (3 places)
• Member of Mediation Commission (4 places)
• Member of Network Commission (5 places)
• Member of Summer University Coordination Team (4 places)

Online voting

This type of voting is used for voting on plans, reports, topics, documents, proposals and motions (which include any topic that has been decided to be moved for online voting). The following list is subject to online voting:

What topics we’ll vote on online at Agora Catania:

• Activity Plan of Comité Directeur 2017-2018
• Activity Report of Comité Directeur 2016-2017 (including report of travels made and the expenses)
• Financial Report of AEGEE-Europe 2016-2017
• Proposed budget of AEGEE-Europe 2017-2018
• Proposals (8)
• Policy Paper on ECI
• Topic for the next European Planning Meeting Yerevan 2018
• Activity Plan of Working Groups 2017-2018
• Activity Report of Working Groups 2016-2017
• Final Action Agenda fulfillment 2016-2017
• Strategic Plan fulfillment 2014-2017

The results of online voting should be considered binding.

We hope that with this article we could give you a bit of help for understanding the procedures of the Agora! In case you have any questions or doubts, don’t hesitate to ask us before Agora at chair@aegee.org, or at the HRC help desk during the Agora!

Written by Tekla Hajdu, Chair Team jobshadower