Toby-
The whole setup looks very odd for Wikipedia.
Why is Erik deciding by fiat how things are run?
He is the vote coordinator; somebody has to make choices on how to procede or
nothing will happen. He has not been dictatorial and has been reasonably open
to modifying schedules and procedures when a consensus forms to do so. But at
the same time he hasn't been a complete pushover trying to accommodate
everybody; if that were the case then we would be much further behind in the
vote process than we are already.
I think Erik is doing an excellent job and think he should be thanked for the
many hours of his /own/ time he has put into this effort instead of being
accused of dictating terms. This is, after all, the largest vote in
Wikipedia's history and we are all learning as we move along. But at the same
time the vote does have to move along. Arguing over the vote method to use on
the vote to decide what the second stage voting method should be, is, IMO a
petty activity that tends to rerail the process instead of moving it along.
-- Daniel Mayer (aka mav)