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I'm withdrawing this proposed guideline. I created it at a time when a whole bunch of surveys in a row were being botched. But I've decided this isn't really necessary, especially the part with the overly-detailed discussion of various voting methods; Wikipedia:Straw polls should be enough. rspeer 17:46, 4 November 2005 (UTC)
There are times in a Wikipedia discussion when you want to hold a vote, to encourage people to give their opinion so that you can find a consensus.
It is useful to look at the Wikipedia articles on Voting systems before organizing the vote; however, you should keep in mind that you're looking for a consensus, not a decision, so your needs will be very different from the assumptions made by those articles. The consensus should always be more important than the vote, and you have to take this into account. You can't use the same system used to elect, say, the President of Ireland, to reach a Wikipedia-style consensus.
So here are some suggestions on how to organize a vote so that you achieve a consensus and avoid a fiasco.