Full Title: Implement Snapshot “Shielded Voting” for Unbiased and Inclusive Decision-Making
Summary: This proposal suggests enabling Snapshot’s shielded voting feature to promote fair and unbiased decision-making within Paragons DAO.
Background: Paragons DAO uses Snapshot for decentralized voting. Although they have a “shielded voting” feature, the DAO has not used it in previous Council(s) elections. This feature can help address the biases associated with real-time voting, such as the bandwagon effect and discouragement of late voters.
Objective: To implement the shielded voting feature on Snapshot, fostering a fair and inclusive decision-making process within Paragons DAO.
Proposal:
- Enable Shielded Voting: Adopt the shielded voting feature on Snapshot for all future proposals and votes.
- Public Access: After the voting period ends, make voting results publicly accessible, maintaining transparency.
- Education and Communication: Inform the DAO community about the benefits of shielded voting and the reasons behind the change, ensuring a smooth transition.
Rationale:
The current real-time voting system can create a bandwagon effect and discourage late voters, leading to potential biases in the decision-making process. Shielded voting can address these issues by preventing voters from being influenced by the current voting trend, allowing for more accurate and independent decision-making.
Studies have shown that real-time voting can lead to a bandwagon effect, social influence, and conformity bias, which may affect the outcome of a vote. Paragons DAO can mitigate these biases and promote a more inclusive decision-making process by implementing shielded voting.
Indeed, Echelon Foundation has already implemented this methodology for EP elections based on similar reasoning that was initially proposed in their Discord and ratified in May 2023
Implementation: The shielded voting feature can be easily enabled on Snapshot without additional costs. The PDAO community will be informed about the change, and the voting process will be updated accordingly.
Timeline: The shielded voting feature should be implemented immediately for the next vote to ensure a fair and unbiased decision-making process.
Conclusion: Implementing shielded voting on Snapshot will promote fair and unbiased decision-making within Paragons DAO, fostering a more inclusive and democratic environment. We encourage the Paragons Council to support this proposal to enhance the voting process and ensure a transparent and accurate representation of the community’s will.
