[EM] Retiring from voting systems, quitting EM

[Forest Simmons]

Like Chris Benham, Kevin Venzke, and others I owe a lot to Mike Ossipoff.

He patiently explained difficult concepts by repeating the same concepts in
different words until reaching the simplest formulation.  This was a
tremendous help for me when I didn't see the point of "winning votes"
versus "margins" fourteen years ago (for example).

By asking the right questions and looking at political realities
(especially recently) he got us moving in the right direction.

I always appreciated his passionate approach that might have seemed overly
combative to some people.  You always knew where he stood, and he argued as
persuasively as possible for his point of view.  If he disagreed with you,
he made it as clear as possible why he disagreed. Yet he was never so
stubborn that he couldn't change his mind if you gave him a sufficiently
good reason to.

[Was that a tear that filled my eye? I feel like I 'm writing a eulogy.]

I'm sure that Mike's boundless energy and passion for progress will be put
to good use wherever he ends up spending it.  I wish him Godspeed.

Forest
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