Hidden votes

Why are votes hidden in vote chess games before you have cast your vote?

I mean, in reality only the 1st vote is secret, in well organised games players post the totals anyway after they voted. Is this then somehow unethical?

Just asking....

So that I don't copy what?

Thanks, but in reality there is (and in my opinion should be) a lot of discussion between team members before votes are cast anyway.

In all of the groups where I play vote chess, members are encouraged to NOT vote independently.

After members vote, they post the vote total anyway, so it's more of an annoyance than a deterrent.

 I dont think this at all, rather, it encourages you to read the comments (analysis) other people have written. Else risk voting for a dud move.

And then you understand WHY and not just WHAT

we do choose, you can also give a perfectly good explanation, and people still go the other way, but what is worse, are the people who do not communicate and vote their own way come hell or high water.

Your mentality could very well immediately gear towards the most popular move because that's where the rest of the pack is going.

I HAVE played in games where, for key moves, people did refrain from voting (most of us) until we'd thoroughly debated our options. Once we got 4 pages of debate before we reached a decision. 

That said, I've also noticed that the tide of votes tends to be swayed very heavily by whichever move is in bold at the top of the stack of comments, even if the person posting the move is rated 1000, has no reasons, and is telling people to hang the queen. :-/

 hi

I'm glad other teams experience the same frustrations!  Especially the ones which vote without any discussion (usually the worst possible move).