Badly organized votes don't determine consensus; they destroy it.
A vote will force a choice between two or more specific options, which may even be poorly defined. A true consensus may lie somewhere outside of those specific options.
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Phroziac wrote:
Actually, Jimmy, aren't they to determine consensus, not build it?
This is why I'm opposed to rampant voting on everything. The only valid purpose for a vote in Wikipedia is actually as a *poll* which seeks to build community consensus. Deliberately excluding some interested parties is a great way to "win" a vote, but it is not a great way to get buy-in from the entire community.