open voting on debate.org should be abolished or curtailed

I do not think open voting should be banned from this site. A Clarification: I do think its a shame that many debates need to clarify that the people should vote for the better debate, not their favorite side. I myself have started to do that for my latest debates. That said I do not think moderators or it being optional are the answers to this "crisis". If we take away the open voting we take away opinions, and taking that away takes the essence of this site away. The people have the right to choose which side they felt was better according to the side that made a better point. This site is brand new, and eventually it will settle in that the voting is not about which side they agree with personally but which side presented its case better. Most of the people on this site are fairly intelligent. If they have the will to be on a web site that is all about debating then chances are they are smart. No one who doesn't have the place of mind to read long strenuous paragraphs, counter point after counter point, is probably not here just for fun, with some exceptions. From what I've read so far, generally all the debaters have something to say, including those who just comment. And what would taking the vote away accomplish? Taking that person who probably read the debate, agreed or disagreed, and saying they cannot express their opinion which is exactly why they came on this site in the first place. I may be wrong, but it is probably why you are here, kvaugham, and it very well is why I am here. I personally enjoy taking in the different sides of a topic, and being able to say who I thought won. I've voted pro-beastiality, I've voted pro-abortion, I've voted con-America. Are these things I agree with as a person, no, but I voted for who I thought was better, and I think with time, those who don't take this place seriously will leave, probably from sheer boredom, and those who enjoy this site for what it is will take over. On the point of moderators: Who is to say who moderates? Should it be the first ten to join debate.org? Should it be those with a 100.00% win ratio? Perhaps a computer? Or maybe only those within a 5% disagreement ratio should be able to vote. Those who are superior in other words. Let those with the real brains figure stuff out. Much like those really smart white guys who made black guys do slave labour for hundreds of years, they where smarter right? Even like those countries that split Germany 5 ways after WW2, who where of course more brilliant as they just won a war, and where only doing what was in the war torn countries best interest. Do you see where I am getting at? No one is above anyone else, and that includes some vote numbers that will hardly effect your life tomorrow. But change is needed. That much is for sure, and rumors have it that changes are coming in the next generation of this site. I think that if something is necessary, then the only change should be a rationale box, where voters need to explain why they voted the way they did. Personally, I try to do this every time I vote as a courteously. But if something needs to be mandatory, then I think reason should be just that. As I see wingnut2280 has already expressed this idea, I will only build on that saying that I do not think a moderator should be allowed even for that. If someone is needed, it should be the debaters themselves. If one of them finds a certain rationale to be insufficient or illegitimate for that vote, there should be a button that he/she can press to bring it to the attention of the other debater to see if they agree, with a place to express reasons of their own for why or why not this vote should count. This would call upon the maturity and logic of both parties, and I do not think it is absurd to ask that. Personally, I would be more than happy to let go of a vote if the reason they voted for me where things like "they used the letter "r" a lot" or "I think Ronald Reagan quotes are cool, so I chose this guy". I don't want to win for these reasons, rather, I like to know that intelligence won me that debate, or likewise, lost. I'd rather be on the side of 1 genius, than a nation of morons. I don't think this site is comprised of a bunch of morons, so once again, I do not think it out of the question to ask for that. My fingers hurt now.