I'm almost positive this has been suggested before, but why not put in place a minimum post count cap for voting on the annual polls? It wouldn't have to be much...just enough to edge out the 1-5 post accounts that seem to flood the polls.

Thoughts?

What would that achieve? Since everyone can only vote once, and Jeremy can see if a bunch of separate votes come from one IP all that would do is to cut down the number of possible votes, surely?

First, I sincerely doubt all of those votes come from a single IP. If so, then those responsible for spamming are retarded and I concede the argument.

If I'm correct and the spammer(s) aren't retarded, then enforcing a minimum post count would at least make it to where you couldn't create a new account (remember, this is LQ Member Polls, not internet polls) and vote with no intention of sticking around LQ. Only those who've put in a bit of time (and I'm not talking 500 posts...I don't even have 500 posts yet...something more like 20 posts or so) at LQ could vote.

Now, if Jeremy had intended the polls to be open-to-the-entire-internet cluster-#$&$s, then again I concede the argument.

The polls are supposed to be open to the whole membership, afaik. Limiting a subset of members makes them feel like less of a member, as far as I can see. The polls are really, mostly, a bit of fun - Jeremy does present a very nice certificate to the winners, but there's no cash prize or anything apart from a cert and being able to put "LQ X of the Year 2009 Winner" on their site. If there were a cash or gift prize, I could see the rationale and would probably get behind it, but I think that the work to game the polls when weighed up against the actual reward would make it more work than it's worth.

As well, Jeremy is very good about being aware of what goes on here, so if there were people gaming the system he would know what's going on and either stop it or cancel the votes.

Well I certainly wouldn't dream of implying that Jeremy isn't paying attention or isn't capable of fixing the issue, but I can't help but wonder, seeing as how there is a long string of posts from people with < 5 posts, all posting the same garbage in the poll threads. But again I do not have the visibility Jeremy has...

Alrighty. Thanks for your input, XavierP.

I don't have the visibility either There are a number of people who sign up and lurk for ages, some people never make a post because they use the search function and solve their problems without asking a question.

However, if you do see posters posting rubbish in threads, especially the poll threads, report them and they will be dealt with appropriately.

We have no plans to limit who can vote in the polls at this time. We do monitor closely for abuse, but I think it's important that the polls are available to all members.

--jeremy