Hey Folks, Winders here. Just writing a quick little blog cause it seems a couple folks are in need of reminding about how voting works. When you go to a vote on a user rights request, a powerset, or a policy. There are three options. Only three. Voting for, voting against, and abstaining.
What voting *for* means: Voting for means that you are 100% in favor of a user getting a particular user right, or a policy passed, etc. In voting for, you are adding a +1 to the count.
What voting *against* means: Voting against means that you are 100% opposed to a user getting a user right, or a policy passed, etc. In voting against, you are applying a negative vote, thus subtracting from the total amount of yes "points" that the vote has accumulated.
What *abstaining* means: Abstaining means that you find yourself unable to vote with a firm yes/no but are still doing your part in being involved in a vote. In abstaining, you neither add nor subtract any points to the total amount of yes points. Abstaining is often used in cases where a user might feel like the user applying for user rights isn't completely ready for it but doesn't want to actively hinder his/her attempt at promotion. In this way, a user can simply abstain and then make his/her opinions known in a comment. Abstaining can also be used in a policy related vote in which there is perhaps a certain wording or a nitpick that a user doesn't agree with but doesn't want to vote against the vote entirely so they can just abstain and then comment about it and change their vote later if necessary.
That's it. Those are the three Heading 3 options that you can put your name under when voting. There's no "On the Fence" option, no "I really want to vote for him but his nose is disturbing" option. Hope this clears everything up.
"No wind is of service to him that is bound for nowhere." -Wind