FIDE FAULTY VOTING SYSTEM

I am afraid that FIDE and ICCF have a mistaken voting system. Their press releases often do not specify how many deputies participated in the vote. 

Their demagoguery is to say "majority" instead of "majority of those who participated". 

Or they declare that "P percentage voted for the decision" instead of "P percentage of those who participated voted for the decision". 

It also leads to contradictions too easily. 

Already, when FIDE sanctioned Russia in 2022, public propaganda gave the impression that the majority of FIDE member states demanded the sanctions. I am afraid that, instead, it was the majority of those who voted. In any case, it seems that the percentage of those countries that supported the sanctions was much lower than the impression made by press releases. 

Suppose that Y is the number of those who vote "Yes", N is the number of those who vote "No", and A is the number of those who are neutral, abstain or are missing. We assume that A > 0, as is usually the case. Then, obviously, 

Y/(Y + N) > Y/(Y + N + A) 

That is the basics of probability calculus and the calculus of percentages. 

FIDE and ICCF public reports of their voting results are not transparent, making political demagoguery too easy. 

I suggest that reports and relevant news include: 

1. The number of FIDE member states. 
2. The minimum number of YES-votes required to accept a decision (the quota). 
3. The number of those who were ABSENT. 
4. The numbers of YES, NO, and NEUTRAL. 

My present essay is motivated by the fact that, recently, FIDE voted on whether to annul the sanctions imposed on Russia. According to FIDE's own press releases, it managed to adapt at once to parallel decisions that conflicted with each other. See, for example: 

"Chess World Left In Limbo As FIDE's Russia Vote Ends In Chaos And Confusion",

Worldchess, 14 December 2025 

Quotations: 

"When it came to the vote, Russia's controversial motion passed by 61 in favour, to 51 against." 

"A second motion proposed by the FIDE Council also passed by 69 votes to 40." 

Note that there are around 200 member federations of FIDE, and: 

61 + 51 = 112 < 200 

69 + 40 = 109 < 200 

Note also that 200/2 = 100, and: 

61 < 100 

69 < 100 

That is, no decision was taken with an absolute majority. 

Now, let us take a look at FIDE's official statement:

"FIDE General Assembly decisions regarding Russia and Belarus", 
Fide News, 14 December 2025

Quotation: 

"In a procedural outcome, reflecting the diversity of views within the chess community, the General Assembly voted to adopt both the resolution proposed by the Chess Federation of Russia (61 votes in favour, 51 against, 14 abstentions and 15 delegates not voting) and the resolution proposed by the FIDE Council (69 votes in favour, 40 against, 15 abstentions and 17 delegates not voting)." 

However, the total number of member states is still missing, as 

61 + 51 + 14 + 15 = 141 < 200 

69 + 40 + 15 + 17 = 141 < 200 

I criticised the demagoguery and illogicality of FIDE's voting and its interpretations already on 24 September 2024. 

Terminology

FIDE - International Chess Federation

ICCF - International Correspondence Chess Federation