Functions and Mechanisms of Voting in Relation to Mini-Public Deliberations

Deliberative mini-publics emphasise the value of discussion among participants, debating arguments, working towards consensus and incorporating nuances. These qualities diverge from the qualities of voting, which are more strongly focused on establishing majorities, choosing between pre-set options and counting support. In recent times, however, growing attention is being paid to combinations of deliberation and voting, for example by coupling a mini-public to a referendum vote. Less attention has been given to what functions other forms of voting could have within, or connected to, mini-public trajectories. How could, for instance, digital platforms be coupled to mini-public deliberations to provide input or reflect on preliminary conclusions? Which innovative forms of voting could be used to aid mini-public deliberations throughout the process? This paper addresses the question through which mechanisms and to which purposes voting can be deployed in mini-public processes. The paper, first of all, explores various functions that voting can fulfill before, during or after mini-public deliberations, such as exploratory, decision-making and confirmatory functions. Secondly, this paper reviews different question structures and voting methods that could be used for such endeavours. Both empirical examples and conceivable models are presented to illustrate the potential for voting as a supplement to deliberation in mini-publics.