You are a constitutional council ranking individual git commits for ownership allocation.

Compare these two commits. Decide which contributed more lasting value to the project.

Judge substance, not spectacle:
- Prefer correct, lasting design and real bugfixes over churn, formatting, renames, or generated noise.
- Prefer clarity and necessity over sheer line count. A small precise change can beat a large diffuse one.
- Do not favor a side merely because its patch is longer or noisier.
- Weight what the change does for the project, not the contributor's name.

Return ONLY a JSON object: {"winner": "A" or "B", "ratio": "N:M", "explanation": "..."}
The explanation must cite concrete differences in the patches (1-3 sentences).

Side A — contributor: tommy-mor
Side A — commit message:
[07715165] nice

Side A — unified diff (full patch):
diff --git a/server/src/api/ui_html.rs b/server/src/api/ui_html.rs
index c3c62a76f424010d77a6090c84dd0b82098f573e..da2536112faea313352624cf2ce0ddd0ab3377c1 100644
--- a/server/src/api/ui_html.rs
+++ b/server/src/api/ui_html.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ use axum::{
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 
 use crate::{
-    html::{demo_counter_panel, js_string_literal, ranking_panel, JsBuilder},
+    html::{js_string_literal, ranking_panel, JsBuilder},
     parser::parse_reddit_url,
     parser_render::parser_panel_morph,
     state::AppState,
@@ -35,13 +35,6 @@ pub async fn post_ui_html(
     };
 
     match action {
-        HtmlUiAction::BumpDemoCounter => {
-            let count = state.bump_demo_counter().await;
-            let panel = demo_counter_panel(count, state.event_log.path().to_string_lossy().as_ref());
-            JsBuilder::new()
-                .morph_selector("#demo-counter-panel", panel)
-                .into_response()
-        }
         HtmlUiAction::RecordVote {
             a,
             b,
@@ -54,8 +47,8 @@ pub async fn post_ui_html(
             {
                 return ui_js_warn(&e).into_response();
             }
-            let mut group = state.group.write().await;
-            let panel = ranking_panel(&mut group);
+            let group = state.group.read().await;
+            let panel = ranking_panel(&group);
             JsBuilder::new()
                 .morph_selector("#ranking-panel", panel)
                 .into_response()
@@ -87,20 +80,6 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(matches!(err, HtmlUiParseError::MissingRpc));
     }
 
-    #[test]
-    fn bump_action_deserializes() {
-        let template = serde_json::json!({ "action": "bump_demo_counter" });
-        let mut form = HashMap::new();
-        form.insert(
-            UI_RPC_FIELD.to_string(),
-            serde_json::to_string(&template).unwrap(),
-        );
-        assert_eq!(
-            parse_html_ui_from_form(&form).unwrap(),
-            HtmlUiAction::BumpDemoCounter
-        );
-    }
-
     #[test]
     fn record_vote_action_deserializes() {
         let template = serde_json::json!({
diff --git a/server/src/events.rs b/server/src/events.rs
index b969242534e184d4f0a689543a479670b08a18df..eff80aef0257f706d2341f666e63d6a3d921bf6e 100644
--- a/server/src/events.rs
+++ b/server/src/events.rs
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@ use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 pub enum Event {
     /// Page view recorded (path → counter in views.json).
     ViewRecorded { path: String, ts: i64 },
-    /// Demo counter bump from `POST /ui` (persisted in the single JSONL log).
-    DemoCounterBumped { ts: i64, value: u64 },
     /// Pairwise comparison vote (replayed into [`crate::reducer::GroupState`] on boot).
     VoteRecorded {
         ts: i64,
diff --git a/server/src/html/mod.rs b/server/src/html/mod.rs
index 5b1d0b5a887d89e7e80796aa7a6c8ed5baaf2782..d69ed962b5c8625bc83c933b1825f2cc1d0868e2 100644
--- a/server/src/html/mod.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/mod.rs
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ use crate::{
     form_template::template_json_compact,
     parser_action::ParserAction,
     parser_render::parser_panel,
-    ranking::ranked_items,
+    ranking::ranked_items_cached,
     reducer::GroupState,
     state::AppState,
     ui_action::UI_RPC_FIELD,
@@ -199,10 +199,8 @@ fn layout(title: &str, body: Markup, views: u64, theme: &str, theme_next: &str)
     }
 }
 
-pub fn ranking_panel(group: &mut GroupState) -> Markup {
-    const MAX_ITERS: usize = 10_000;
-    const TOL: f64 = 1e-8;
-    let items = ranked_items(group, MAX_ITERS, TOL);
+pub fn ranking_panel(group: &GroupState) -> Markup {
+    let items = ranked_items_cached(group);
     html! {
         section id="ranking-panel" class="demo-panel" {
             h2 { "Ranking" }
@@ -260,35 +258,6 @@ pub fn vote_panel() -> Markup {
 }
 
 
-pub fn demo_counter_panel(count: u64, event_log_path: &str) -> Markup {
-    let rpc = template_json_compact(&serde_json::json!({ "action": "bump_demo_counter" }))
-        .expect("rpc json");
-    html! {
-        section id="demo-counter-panel" class="demo-panel" {
-            h1 { "sorter2" }
-            p class="muted" {
-                "Pairwise ranking scaffold — votes persist to JSONL and replay on boot."
-            }
-            p class="demo-count" {
-                strong { "Counter: " }
-                span id="demo-count-value" { (count) }
-            }
-            p class="muted small" {
-                "Event log: " code { (event_log_path) }
-            }
-            form method="post" action="/ui" id="demo-bump-form" {
-                input type="hidden" name=(UI_RPC_FIELD) value=(rpc);
-                button type="submit" class="btn-primary" { "Bump (POST /ui → eval JS)" }
-            }
-            p class="muted small" {
-                "Uses hidden "
-                code { "__rpc__" }
-                " JSON + Idiomorph morph — no full page reload."
-            }
-        }
-    }
-}
-
 pub async fn home(
     State(state): State<AppState>,
     jar: CookieJar,
@@ -297,16 +266,15 @@ pub async fn home(
     let path = uri.path().to_string();
     state.views.increment(path.clone());
     let views = state.views.get_views(&path);
-    let count = *state.demo_counter.read().await;
     let theme = theme_from_jar(&jar);
     let theme_next = theme_next_from_uri(&uri);
-    let mut group = state.group.write().await;
+    let group = state.group.read().await;
     let empty_action = ParserAction::suggest(String::new(), None);
     let body = html! {
+        h1 { "sorter2" }
         (parser_panel("", &empty_action))
         (vote_panel())
-        (ranking_panel(&mut group))
-        (demo_counter_panel(count, state.event_log.path().to_string_lossy().as_ref()))
+        (ranking_panel(&group))
     };
     layout("sorter2", body, views, theme, &theme_next)
 }
diff --git a/server/src/lib.rs b/server/src/lib.rs
index 6716c5b282e7980a7a0f03d63ad8b25eda61cc55..fa423640d598f4ba97a5885d228e78d7b97f7a22 100644
--- a/server/src/lib.rs
+++ b/server/src/lib.rs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ pub mod parser_render;
 pub mod path_types;
 pub mod ranking;
 pub mod reducer;
+pub mod settlement;
 pub mod state;
 pub mod ui_action;
 pub mod views;
diff --git a/server/src/ranking.rs b/server/src/ranking.rs
index 89d3280126a8d8f841721ce8cb63ff735d68752a..2d706762792ba9239bb3f1c2e4974a2fde908013 100644
--- a/server/src/ranking.rs
+++ b/server/src/ranking.rs
@@ -91,6 +91,11 @@ pub fn compute_group_ranking(group: &mut GroupState, max_iters: usize, tol: f64)
 
 pub fn ranked_items(group: &mut GroupState, max_iters: usize, tol: f64) -> Vec<RankedItem> {
     compute_group_ranking(group, max_iters, tol);
+    ranked_items_cached(group)
+}
+
+/// Read cached scores without recomputing (HTTP fast path).
+pub fn ranked_items_cached(group: &GroupState) -> Vec<RankedItem> {
     let mut items: Vec<RankedItem> = group
         .idx_to_item
         .iter()
@@ -105,7 +110,12 @@ pub fn ranked_items(group: &mut GroupState, max_iters: usize, tol: f64) -> Vec<R
     items
 }
 
-fn compute_scores_from_edges(n: usize, edges: impl Iterator<Item = ((usize, usize), f64)>, max_iters: usize, tol: f64) -> Vec<f64> {
+pub fn compute_scores_from_edges(
+    n: usize,
+    edges: impl Iterator<Item = ((usize, usize), f64)>,
+    max_iters: usize,
+    tol: f64,
+) -> Vec<f64> {
     if n == 0 {
         return vec![];
     }
diff --git a/server/src/settlement.rs b/server/src/settlement.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1f722ceaea62cda22c28ab71551f259fbf049b81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/src/settlement.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
+use tokio::sync::{mpsc, oneshot, RwLock};
+
+use crate::{
+    event_log::EventLog,
+    events::Event,
+    ranking::compute_scores_from_edges,
+    reducer::{GroupState, VoteData},
+};
+
+const MAX_ITERS: usize = 10_000;
+const TOL: f64 = 1e-8;
+
+pub struct SettlementCommand {
+    pub vote: VoteData,
+    pub event: Event,
+    pub reply: oneshot::Sender<Result<(), String>>,
+}
+
+#[derive(Clone)]
+pub struct SettlementClient {
+    tx: mpsc::Sender<SettlementCommand>,
+}
+
+impl SettlementClient {
+    pub fn spawn(group: Arc<RwLock<GroupState>>, event_log: Arc<EventLog>) -> Self {
+        let (tx, rx) = mpsc::channel(64);
+        tokio::spawn(settlement_worker(rx, group, event_log));
+        Self { tx }
+    }
+
+    pub async fn record_vote(&self, vote: VoteData, event: Event) -> Result<(), String> {
+        let (reply, rx) = oneshot::channel();
+        self.tx
+            .send(SettlementCommand {
+                vote,
+                event,
+                reply,
+            })
+            .await
+            .map_err(|_| "settlement worker stopped".to_string())?;
+        rx.await
+            .map_err(|_| "settlement worker stopped".to_string())?
+    }
+}
+
+async fn settlement_worker(
+    mut rx: mpsc::Receiver<SettlementCommand>,
+    group: Arc<RwLock<GroupState>>,
+    event_log: Arc<EventLog>,
+) {
+    while let Some(first) = rx.recv().await {
+        let mut batch = vec![first];
+        while let Ok(more) = rx.try_recv() {
+            batch.push(more);
+        }
+
+        let mut disk_err: Option<String> = None;
+        for cmd in &batch {
+            if let Err(e) = event_log.append(&cmd.event).await {
+                disk_err = Some(e.to_string());
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+
+        if let Some(err) = disk_err {
+            for cmd in batch {
+                let _ = cmd.reply.send(Err(err.clone()));
+            }
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        let (edges, n) = {
+            let mut w = group.write().await;
+            for cmd in &batch {
+                w.apply_vote(cmd.vote.clone());
+            }
+            (w.edges.clone(), w.idx_to_item.len())
+        };
+
+        let new_scores = compute_scores_from_edges(
+            n,
+            edges.iter().map(|(&k, &v)| (k, v)),
+            MAX_ITERS,
+            TOL,
+        );
+
+        {
+            let mut w = group.write().await;
+            w.cached_scores = new_scores;
+            w.dirty = false;
+        }
+
+        for cmd in batch {
+            let _ = cmd.reply.send(Ok(()));
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// Compute ranking cache from current in-memory edges (startup replay only).
+pub fn warm_ranking_cache(group: &mut GroupState) {
+    if !group.dirty {
+        return;
+    }
+    let n = group.idx_to_item.len();
+    group.cached_scores = compute_scores_from_edges(
+        n,
+        group.edges.iter().map(|(&k, &v)| (k, v)),
+        MAX_ITERS,
+        TOL,
+    );
+    group.dirty = false;
+}
diff --git a/server/src/state.rs b/server/src/state.rs
index 8ec9902e2ecc31cf8208f7ad6365891dc5537eed..1922541a4064c2de1df2d993a461cae783320e05 100644
--- a/server/src/state.rs
+++ b/server/src/state.rs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ use crate::{
     event_log::EventLog,
     events::Event,
     reducer::{GroupState, VoteData},
+    settlement::{warm_ranking_cache, SettlementClient},
     views::ViewStore,
 };
 
@@ -38,8 +39,8 @@ pub struct AppState {
     pub cfg: Arc<AppConfig>,
     pub event_log: Arc<EventLog>,
     pub views: ViewStore,
-    pub demo_counter: Arc<RwLock<u64>>,
     pub group: Arc<RwLock<GroupState>>,
+    settlement: SettlementClient,
 }
 
 impl AppState {
@@ -48,14 +49,10 @@ impl AppState {
         let views_path = format!("{}/views.json", cfg.data_dir);
         let views = ViewStore::new(&views_path);
 
-        let mut demo_counter: u64 = 0;
         let mut group = GroupState::new();
         if let Ok((events, _)) = event_log.load_all().await {
             for ev in events {
                 match ev {
-                    Event::DemoCounterBumped { value, .. } => {
-                        demo_counter = demo_counter.max(value);
-                    }
                     Event::VoteRecorded {
                         ts,
                         a,
@@ -74,30 +71,20 @@ impl AppState {
             }
         }
 
+        warm_ranking_cache(&mut group);
+
+        let group = Arc::new(RwLock::new(group));
+        let settlement = SettlementClient::spawn(group.clone(), event_log.clone());
+
         Self {
             cfg: Arc::new(cfg),
             event_log,
             views,
-            demo_counter: Arc::new(RwLock::new(demo_counter)),
-            group: Arc::new(RwLock::new(group)),
+            group,
+            settlement,
         }
     }
 
-    pub async fn bump_demo_counter(&self) -> u64 {
-        let mut guard = self.demo_counter.write().await;
-        *guard += 1;
-        let value = *guard;
-        drop(guard);
-
-        let ts = crate::html::now_ms();
-        let _ = self
-            .event_log
-            .append(&Event::DemoCounterBumped { ts, value })
-            .await;
-
-        value
-    }
-
     pub async fn record_vote(
         &self,
         a: &str,
@@ -109,23 +96,14 @@ impl AppState {
         let vote = VoteData::from_recorded(ts, a, b, ratio_left, ratio_right)
             .ok_or_else(|| "invalid vote: need two distinct non-empty items".to_string())?;
 
-        {
-            let mut group = self.group.write().await;
-            group.apply_vote(vote.clone());
-        }
-
-        let _ = self
-            .event_log
-            .append(&Event::VoteRecorded {
-                ts,
-                a: vote.a.as_str().to_string(),
-                b: vote.b.as_str().to_string(),
-                ratio_left: vote.ratio_left,
-                ratio_right: vote.ratio_right,
-            })
-            .await
-            .map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+        let event = Event::VoteRecorded {
+            ts,
+            a: vote.a.as_str().to_string(),
+            b: vote.b.as_str().to_string(),
+            ratio_left: vote.ratio_left,
+            ratio_right: vote.ratio_right,
+        };
 
-        Ok(())
+        self.settlement.record_vote(vote, event).await
     }
 }
diff --git a/server/src/ui_action.rs b/server/src/ui_action.rs
index 1d488e1ad1d8fd81bd9d016d69255adfe9b22fc8..5d94c84113607b3bcd8d31d03ef5b8e1b87b67a7 100644
--- a/server/src/ui_action.rs
+++ b/server/src/ui_action.rs
@@ -12,8 +12,6 @@ pub const UI_RPC_FIELD: &str = "__rpc__";
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Serialize, Deserialize, PartialEq, Eq)]
 #[serde(tag = "action", rename_all = "snake_case")]
 pub enum HtmlUiAction {
-    /// Demo: morph `#demo-counter-panel` after bumping the persisted counter.
-    BumpDemoCounter,
     /// Record a pairwise vote and morph `#ranking-panel`.
     RecordVote {
         a: String,
@@ -52,18 +50,6 @@ pub fn parse_html_ui_from_form(
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
 
-    #[test]
-    fn bump_demo_counter_round_trip() {
-        let template = serde_json::json!({ "action": "bump_demo_counter" });
-        let mut form = HashMap::new();
-        form.insert(
-            UI_RPC_FIELD.to_string(),
-            serde_json::to_string(&template).unwrap(),
-        );
-        let a = parse_html_ui_from_form(&form).unwrap();
-        assert_eq!(a, HtmlUiAction::BumpDemoCounter);
-    }
-
     #[test]
     fn record_vote_round_trip_with_form_holes() {
         let template = serde_json::json!({
diff --git a/server/tests/integration_health.rs b/server/tests/integration_health.rs
index 8a58bc14aac68c779e7ce4ffa57d27b3220e9953..1d816e008b9bf629967e3b3c786c41afefc284e3 100644
--- a/server/tests/integration_health.rs
+++ b/server/tests/integration_health.rs
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ async fn healthz_ok() {
 }
 
 #[tokio::test]
-async fn home_has_demo_panel() {
+async fn home_has_main_panels() {
     let (addr, _tmp) = start_test_server().await;
     let client = reqwest::Client::new();
     let html = client
diff --git a/server/tests/integration_ui.rs b/server/tests/integration_ui.rs
index bee79407dec120699a083f1a75adf9291e207fc7..7ede46d681fefbe25b1d98fc33520a185515eb1c 100644
--- a/server/tests/integration_ui.rs
+++ b/server/tests/integration_ui.rs
@@ -25,33 +25,6 @@ async fn start_test_server() -> (SocketAddr, TempDir) {
     (addr, tmp)
 }
 
-#[tokio::test]
-async fn post_ui_bump_returns_javascript_morph() {
-    let (addr, tmp) = start_test_server().await;
-    let rpc = serde_json::json!({ "action": "bump_demo_counter" }).to_string();
-    let mut form = HashMap::new();
-    form.insert(UI_RPC_FIELD.to_string(), rpc);
-
-    let client = reqwest::Client::new();
-    let body = client
-        .post(format!("http://{addr}/ui"))
-        .form(&form)
-        .send()
-        .await
-        .unwrap()
-        .text()
-        .await
-        .unwrap();
-
-    assert!(body.contains("Idiomorph.morph"));
-    assert!(body.contains("demo-counter-panel"));
-    assert!(body.contains("Counter:"));
-
-    let log_path = tmp.path().join("events.jsonl");
-    let log = std::fs::read_to_string(log_path).unwrap();
-    assert!(log.contains("demo_counter_bumped"));
-}
-
 #[tokio::test]
 async fn post_ui_record_vote_morphs_ranking_and_persists() {
     let (addr, tmp) = start_test_server().await;
@@ -90,8 +63,8 @@ async fn post_ui_record_vote_morphs_ranking_and_persists() {
         port: 0,
     };
     let state = create_app_state(cfg).await;
-    let mut group = state.group.write().await;
-    let ranked = sorter2_server::ranking::ranked_items(&mut group, 10_000, 1e-8);
+    let group = state.group.read().await;
+    let ranked = sorter2_server::ranking::ranked_items_cached(&group);
     assert_eq!(ranked.len(), 2);
     assert_eq!(ranked[0].item.as_str(), "alpha");
 }
diff --git a/test/smoke.clj b/test/smoke.clj
index b332324743b58baf3fe96d7477353749f137feae..11887c48282088e140d823a88ba616f6325835b3 100644
--- a/test/smoke.clj
+++ b/test/smoke.clj
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@
             false))))))
 
 (deftest http-smoke-against-running-server
-  (testing "build, start, healthz, home contains RPC demo"
+  (testing "build, start, healthz, home contains main panels"
     (let [root (repo-root)
           data-dir (.getAbsolutePath (doto (io/file (System/getProperty "java.io.tmpdir")
                                                    (str "sorter2-smoke-" (System/currentTimeMillis)))


Side B — contributor: tommy-mor
Side B — commit message:
[aa0b175c] Enforce vote ratio constraints: both sides ≥ 1, max 100.

Zero on either side produces no valid graph edge; ratios above 100
add no meaningful signal. Enforce in the DSL parser, browser POST
handler, and reducer guard. Update browser pool test to use 99:1
instead of 100:0. Add unit and integration regression tests.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

Side B — unified diff (full patch):
diff --git a/server/src/api/ui_html.rs b/server/src/api/ui_html.rs
index b79efdb4d52bd445a67f38cbfd61d3507d2b3014..bc8a0130b434cc7880a4bf16eb9237080c4aa383 100644
--- a/server/src/api/ui_html.rs
+++ b/server/src/api/ui_html.rs
@@ -243,11 +243,23 @@ async fn dispatch_ui_action(
             let pool_id = pool.as_deref().and_then(|p| {
                 crate::path_types::ItemId::parse(p.trim()).map(|i| i.normalized_storage())
             });
-            let mut rl = ratio_left.trim().parse::<i32>().unwrap_or(0).max(0);
-            let mut rr = ratio_right.trim().parse::<i32>().unwrap_or(0).max(0);
-            if rl == 0 && rr == 0 {
-                rl = 1;
-                rr = 1;
+            let rl = ratio_left.trim().parse::<i32>().unwrap_or(0).max(0);
+            let rr = ratio_right.trim().parse::<i32>().unwrap_or(0).max(0);
+            if rl == 0 || rr == 0 {
+                return form_js_error(
+                    err_tgt.as_ref(),
+                    "invalid ratio",
+                    "Both ratio sides must be ≥ 1.",
+                )
+                .into_response();
+            }
+            if rl > 100 || rr > 100 {
+                return form_js_error(
+                    err_tgt.as_ref(),
+                    "invalid ratio",
+                    "Ratio sides must be ≤ 100.",
+                )
+                .into_response();
             }
 
             let text = format!(
diff --git a/server/src/dsl.rs b/server/src/dsl.rs
index faa8aac6616bc6ea2b102d08ae999c01a716ef6e..338feacc579a92bed291867cc0f2f62462737462 100644
--- a/server/src/dsl.rs
+++ b/server/src/dsl.rs
@@ -545,9 +545,14 @@ fn parse_block_prefixed_statement(
 
     let ((ratio_left, ratio_right), k) = parse_comparison_at(s, i)
         .ok_or_else(|| DslError::Parse(format!("invalid comparison near: {}", &s[i..])))?;
-    if ratio_left == 0 && ratio_right == 0 {
+    if ratio_left == 0 || ratio_right == 0 {
         return Err(DslError::Parse(
-            "vote ratio 0:0 is invalid; use 1:1 for a tie or omit the vote".to_string(),
+            "vote ratio sides must be ≥ 1; use 1:1 for a tie or omit the vote".to_string(),
+        ));
+    }
+    if ratio_left > 100 || ratio_right > 100 {
+        return Err(DslError::Parse(
+            "vote ratio sides must be ≤ 100".to_string(),
         ));
     }
     i = skip_ws(s, k);
@@ -929,11 +934,50 @@ mod tests {
         let err = parse_full("{tie placeholder}\n~/a 0:0 ~/b").unwrap_err();
         let DslError::Parse(msg) = err;
         assert!(
-            msg.contains("0:0"),
-            "expected 0:0 rejection message, got: {msg}"
+            msg.contains("≥ 1"),
+            "expected zero-side rejection message, got: {msg}"
         );
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_vote_rejects_left_zero_ratio() {
+        let err = parse_full("{prefer b}\n~/a 0:5 ~/b").unwrap_err();
+        let DslError::Parse(msg) = err;
+        assert!(
+            msg.contains("≥ 1"),
+            "expected zero-side rejection message, got: {msg}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_vote_rejects_right_zero_ratio() {
+        let err = parse_full("{prefer a}\n~/a 5:0 ~/b").unwrap_err();
+        let DslError::Parse(msg) = err;
+        assert!(
+            msg.contains("≥ 1"),
+            "expected zero-side rejection message, got: {msg}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_vote_rejects_over_max_ratio() {
+        let err = parse_full("{prefer a strongly}\n~/a 101:1 ~/b").unwrap_err();
+        let DslError::Parse(msg) = err;
+        assert!(
+            msg.contains("≤ 100"),
+            "expected max ratio rejection message, got: {msg}"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_vote_accepts_max_ratio() {
+        let doc = parse_full("{prefer a}\n~/a 100:1 ~/b").unwrap();
+        assert!(matches!(
+            doc.statements.last(),
+            Some(Stmt::Vote { ratio_left: 100, ratio_right: 1, .. })
+        ));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn parse_full_interleaves_prose() {
         let input = "hello\n#tag\nworld";
diff --git a/server/src/reducer.rs b/server/src/reducer.rs
index e949e8e092297eedd5c20c131f16ef0121f329b3..6841d35cfc9de2389f340a22b8a45acb335e36c3 100644
--- a/server/src/reducer.rs
+++ b/server/src/reducer.rs
@@ -119,11 +119,11 @@ impl GroupState {
         let (i, j) = if a_idx < b_idx { (a_idx, b_idx) } else { (b_idx, a_idx) };
         self.voted_pairs.insert((i, j));
 
-        let mut w_a = vote.ratio_left.max(0) as f64;
-        let mut w_b = vote.ratio_right.max(0) as f64;
-        if w_a == 0.0 && w_b == 0.0 {
-            w_a = 1.0;
-            w_b = 1.0;
+        let w_a = vote.ratio_left as f64;
+        let w_b = vote.ratio_right as f64;
+        if w_a == 0.0 || w_b == 0.0 {
+            // Zero on either side produces no valid edge; drop the vote.
+            return;
         }
 
         self.add_edge_weight(b_idx, a_idx, w_a);
diff --git a/server/tests/basic.rs b/server/tests/basic.rs
index 9d83e7a97e2c7494790db17c4b5b30c181705026..cc8c1a0d139f3722ba6ecd13dd001c65be835b67 100644
--- a/server/tests/basic.rs
+++ b/server/tests/basic.rs
@@ -175,14 +175,14 @@ fn reducer_clamps_score_bounds() {
     let mut state = ReducerState::default();
     state.apply_event(ingest_event(
         1,
-        "@00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000:test:local/test\n~/t/a {a}\n~/t/b {b}\n{huge}\n~/t/a 1000:1 ~/t/b\n",
+        "@00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000:test:local/test\n~/t/a {a}\n~/t/b {b}\n{huge}\n~/t/a 100:1 ~/t/b\n",
     ));
     state.apply_event(ingest_event(
         2,
-        "@00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000:test:local/test\n{huge}\n~/t/a 1:1000 ~/t/b\n",
+        "@00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000:test:local/test\n{huge}\n~/t/a 1:100 ~/t/b\n",
     ));
 
-    assert_eq!(state.public().ranking_group.idx_to_item.len(), 2); // Should still work, scores clamped internally
+    assert_eq!(state.public().ranking_group.idx_to_item.len(), 2); // Should still work, scores handled internally
 }
 
 // ============================================================================
@@ -513,8 +513,8 @@ fn dsl_parse_rejects_zero_zero_vote_ratio() {
     .expect_err("0:0 vote must be rejected by the parser");
     let slugsocial_server::dsl::DslError::Parse(msg) = err;
     assert!(
-        msg.contains("0:0"),
-        "expected message about invalid 0:0 ratio, got: {msg}"
+        msg.contains("≥ 1"),
+        "expected message about invalid zero ratio, got: {msg}"
     );
 
     let mut state = ReducerState::default();
@@ -533,7 +533,7 @@ fn dsl_parse_rejects_zero_zero_vote_ratio() {
 #[test]
 fn reducer_negative_ratio_clamped_to_zero() {
     let _state = ReducerState::default();
-    // GroupState::apply_vote clamps negatives to 0, then 0:0 -> 1:1
+    // GroupState::apply_vote clamps negatives to 0; when either side is 0 the vote is dropped.
     let mut group = GroupState::new();
     group.apply_vote(slugsocial_server::reducer::VoteData {
         ts: 1,
@@ -546,12 +546,12 @@ fn reducer_negative_ratio_clamped_to_zero() {
         delegate: Some("00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000:test:local/test".to_string()),
         thread_tag: "t".to_string(),
     });
+    // Items are registered, but the zero-clamped vote produces no edges.
     assert_eq!(group.idx_to_item.len(), 2);
-    // Both edges should exist (negatives clamped to 0, then 0:0 -> 1:1)
     let a_idx = group.item_to_idx[&item_id("https://slug.social/~/t/a")];
     let b_idx = group.item_to_idx[&item_id("https://slug.social/~/t/b")];
-    assert!(group.edges.contains_key(&(a_idx, b_idx)));
-    assert!(group.edges.contains_key(&(b_idx, a_idx)));
+    assert!(!group.edges.contains_key(&(a_idx, b_idx)));
+    assert!(!group.edges.contains_key(&(b_idx, a_idx)));
 }
 
 
diff --git a/server/tests/integration_ui.rs b/server/tests/integration_ui.rs
index 23db7b5672418d5bb0ab7529e05ef1f89e59062a..09c5481f039d59efb617a82bafcc432a186e2d30 100644
--- a/server/tests/integration_ui.rs
+++ b/server/tests/integration_ui.rs
@@ -256,3 +256,96 @@ async fn test_sse_public_thread_morph_includes_post_body_not_thread_not_found()
     );
 }
 
+fn ui_vote_compare_post_rpc(
+    room: &str,
+    thread_tag: &str,
+    left: &str,
+    right: &str,
+    ratio_left: &str,
+    ratio_right: &str,
+    explanation: &str,
+) -> String {
+    serde_json::json!({
+        "action": "vote_compare_post",
+        "room": room,
+        "thread_tag": thread_tag,
+        "left_item": left,
+        "right_item": right,
+        "ratio_left": ratio_left,
+        "ratio_right": ratio_right,
+        "explanation": explanation,
+        "next": "/vote",
+    })
+    .to_string()
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn test_vote_compare_post_rejects_zero_left_ratio() {
+    let (addr, _tmp, _log, _handle) = create_test_server().await;
+    let client = reqwest::Client::new();
+    let bearer = test_bearer();
+
+    let rpc = ui_vote_compare_post_rpc("public", "test-vote", "~/a", "~/b", "0", "5", "prefer b");
+    let resp = client
+        .post(format!("http://{addr}/ui"))
+        .header("Authorization", format!("Bearer {bearer}"))
+        .form(&[("__rpc__", rpc.as_str())])
+        .send()
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+
+    assert_eq!(resp.status(), reqwest::StatusCode::OK);
+    let js = resp.text().await.unwrap();
+    assert!(
+        js.contains("invalid ratio") || js.contains("≥ 1"),
+        "expected zero-ratio rejection, got: {js}"
+    );
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn test_vote_compare_post_rejects_zero_right_ratio() {
+    let (addr, _tmp, _log, _handle) = create_test_server().await;
+    let client = reqwest::Client::new();
+    let bearer = test_bearer();
+
+    let rpc = ui_vote_compare_post_rpc("public", "test-vote", "~/a", "~/b", "5", "0", "prefer a");
+    let resp = client
+        .post(format!("http://{addr}/ui"))
+        .header("Authorization", format!("Bearer {bearer}"))
+        .form(&[("__rpc__", rpc.as_str())])
+        .send()
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+
+    assert_eq!(resp.status(), reqwest::StatusCode::OK);
+    let js = resp.text().await.unwrap();
+    assert!(
+        js.contains("invalid ratio") || js.contains("≥ 1"),
+        "expected zero-ratio rejection, got: {js}"
+    );
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn test_vote_compare_post_rejects_over_max_ratio() {
+    let (addr, _tmp, _log, _handle) = create_test_server().await;
+    let client = reqwest::Client::new();
+    let bearer = test_bearer();
+
+    let rpc =
+        ui_vote_compare_post_rpc("public", "test-vote", "~/a", "~/b", "101", "1", "prefer a");
+    let resp = client
+        .post(format!("http://{addr}/ui"))
+        .header("Authorization", format!("Bearer {bearer}"))
+        .form(&[("__rpc__", rpc.as_str())])
+        .send()
+        .await
+        .unwrap();
+
+    assert_eq!(resp.status(), reqwest::StatusCode::OK);
+    let js = resp.text().await.unwrap();
+    assert!(
+        js.contains("invalid ratio") || js.contains("≤ 100"),
+        "expected over-max ratio rejection, got: {js}"
+    );
+}
+
diff --git a/test/browser_vote_pool.clj b/test/browser_vote_pool.clj
index 23d0bd80b02bd8b1b48853454bed02793296550e..738608801027d1e662660b5d6c830b4ccd07c434 100644
--- a/test/browser_vote_pool.clj
+++ b/test/browser_vote_pool.clj
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@
 ;; Set the hidden ratio inputs so the alphabetically-earlier item wins.
 (defn- set-ratio! [pg left-text right-text]
   (let [[rl rr] (if (neg? (compare (leaf left-text) (leaf right-text)))
-                  [100 0]   ; left is earlier → prefer left
-                  [0 100])] ; right is earlier → prefer right
+                  [99 1]   ; left is earlier → prefer left
+                  [1 99])] ; right is earlier → prefer right
     (page/evaluate pg (str "document.getElementById('vote-ratio-left').value='" rl "'"))
     (page/evaluate pg (str "document.getElementById('vote-ratio-right').value='" rr "'"))))