I did not mention my opinion regarding the voting button in my post above.

Personally I dont think it disadvantages a member if the voting designator appears under his name. If it would say "I did not vote" then it would be more of a concern because it sounds really bad and would come close to bad mouthing. However, I think every Flyertalker can be proud of participating in the voting process, as much as the candidates are proud of running !

I'm not a computer geek thats why I cant say in how far it is technically possible to implement a "choice" option for the designator. Maybe this is something to figure out for the following elections.

The symbol is a good thing to spread the word about the elections. Members who did not read the sticky or the respective forums ask what the little thing under the name means and it might actually encourage them in participating.

Just my 2 cents !