If people fill in the free-text box in the survey, this is essentially the same as sending an email. If I disagree with the fund’s decisions, I can send them my reasons why. If my reasons aren’t any good, the fund can see that, and ignore me; if I have good reasons, the fund should (hopefully) be swayed.
Votes without the free-text box filled in can’t signal whether the voter’s justifications are valid or not. Opinions have differing levels of information backing them up. An “unpopular” decision might be supported by everyone who knows what they’re talking about; a “popular” decision might be considered to be bad by every informed person.
If people fill in the free-text box in the survey, this is essentially the same as sending an email. If I disagree with the fund’s decisions, I can send them my reasons why. If my reasons aren’t any good, the fund can see that, and ignore me; if I have good reasons, the fund should (hopefully) be swayed.
Votes without the free-text box filled in can’t signal whether the voter’s justifications are valid or not. Opinions have differing levels of information backing them up. An “unpopular” decision might be supported by everyone who knows what they’re talking about; a “popular” decision might be considered to be bad by every informed person.