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:
[5350388a] Add pool-scoped voting: /vote?pool=<parent> picks pairs from children.

- /vote now accepts an optional `pool` param (parent item path). When
  provided without left/right, it picks the first unvoted pair from the
  pool's children. When provided alongside left/right, it constrains
  "next pair" navigation to siblings within the pool.
- "vote on children" button appears on item pages with ≥2 children,
  linking to /vote?pool=<item>.
- Pool is threaded through VoteComparePost → success JS so in-page
  morph after voting keeps the pool context for next-pair navigation.

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 5faa642451d69555cb391974beb0ad22c9355c8c..b79efdb4d52bd445a67f38cbfd61d3507d2b3014 100644
--- a/server/src/api/ui_html.rs
+++ b/server/src/api/ui_html.rs
@@ -193,6 +193,7 @@ async fn dispatch_ui_action(
             ratio_right,
             explanation,
             next,
+            pool,
             form_action,
         } => {
             if form_action != "/ui" {
@@ -239,6 +240,9 @@ async fn dispatch_ui_action(
                         .into_response();
                 }
             };
+            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 {
@@ -294,6 +298,7 @@ async fn dispatch_ui_action(
                         &thread_tag,
                         &left_id,
                         &right_id,
+                        pool_id.as_ref(),
                         pid.as_str(),
                         post_index,
                     )
diff --git a/server/src/html/garden/pin.rs b/server/src/html/garden/pin.rs
index 5865cfdbc06aeb6555c97380e25591fae6b3d125..1820d7fe7ee167ecbf5ad5124f23b2ab92ffb01f 100644
--- a/server/src/html/garden/pin.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/garden/pin.rs
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ pub(super) fn ont_pin_vote_controls(
                         }
                     }
                 } @else {
-                    a class="ont-vote-compare-btn" href=(vote_compare_href(nav, pi, &current, None)) title="Compare and vote" {
+                    a class="ont-vote-compare-btn" href=(vote_compare_href(nav, pi, &current, None, None)) title="Compare and vote" {
                         span class="ont-vote-glyph" aria-hidden="true" { "⚖" }
                         span { "vote" }
                     }
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ pub(super) fn child_row_pin_or_vote(
                         if nv == 1 { "" } else { "s" },
                     );
                     @let aria = format!("Vote; {} pairwise {}", nv, if nv == 1 { "vote" } else { "votes" });
-                    a class="ont-garden-vote-ico" href=(vote_compare_href(nav, pi, row_item, None)) title=(tip) aria-label=(aria) {
+                    a class="ont-garden-vote-ico" href=(vote_compare_href(nav, pi, row_item, None, None)) title=(tip) aria-label=(aria) {
                         span class="ont-garden-vote-glyph" aria-hidden="true" { "⚖" }
                         span class="ont-garden-vote-count" { (format!("{}", nv)) }
                     }
diff --git a/server/src/html/garden/render.rs b/server/src/html/garden/render.rs
index 5c3986ca36902f6c9019a4b5590f0b3b9d2cb4ff..bd8cbce059ee789de6e8dc9b6f69f54beee2f994 100644
--- a/server/src/html/garden/render.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/garden/render.rs
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ use super::{
     item::{child_depth_from_uri, item_code_label, item_display_path, item_href},
     item_page::{build_item_page_view_model, sibling_nav_markup},
     pin::{child_row_pin_or_vote, ont_pin_vote_controls, pinned_item_from_jar},
+    vote::vote_pool_href,
 };
 
 pub(super) async fn render_scope_view(
@@ -186,12 +187,21 @@ pub(super) async fn render_scope_view(
             }
 
             section class="ont-tab-panel ont-tab-panel-children" {
+                @let total_children = model.child_rankings.component_rankings
+                    .iter().map(|c| c.ranked.len()).sum::<usize>()
+                    + model.child_rankings.unranked_items.len();
                 h3 {
                     "ranked child groups"
                     @if model.child_depth > 1 {
                         " "
                         span class="muted" { (format!("(depth {})", model.child_depth)) }
                     }
+                    @if total_children >= 2 {
+                        " "
+                        a class="ont-vote-children-btn" href=(vote_pool_href(&nav, &model.item)) {
+                            "vote on children"
+                        }
+                    }
                 }
                 @if model.child_rankings.component_rankings.is_empty() {
                     p class="muted" { "no voted pairs yet in this scope" }
diff --git a/server/src/html/garden/tests.rs b/server/src/html/garden/tests.rs
index 6900a6795bcde866a176722149d6378e5127b4c3..c2036fca7752aef63d260e36cfe9649f63b5c550 100644
--- a/server/src/html/garden/tests.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/garden/tests.rs
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ fn suggest_next_vote_pair_prefers_unvoted_sibling_pair() {
     let content = content_for_garden_view(&reduced, &ScopeId::Public);
     let a = ItemId::parse("~/topic/a").unwrap().normalized_storage();
     let b = ItemId::parse("~/topic/b").unwrap().normalized_storage();
-    let next = suggest_next_vote_pair(content, &a, &b).expect("next sibling pair");
+    let next = suggest_next_vote_pair(content, &a, &b, None).expect("next sibling pair");
     assert_ne!(
         canonical_edge_items(&next.0, &next.1),
         canonical_edge_items(&a, &b)
diff --git a/server/src/html/garden/vote.rs b/server/src/html/garden/vote.rs
index 1d7fc8aa7436bfa9c1186dfd940a8d751ab7e088..2682cfcbd2f834b56459a02831aa225cffe67c58 100644
--- a/server/src/html/garden/vote.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/garden/vote.rs
@@ -211,14 +211,15 @@ pub(crate) async fn vote_compare_post_success_js(
     _thread_tag: &str,
     left: &ItemId,
     right: &ItemId,
+    pool: Option<&ItemId>,
     _post_id: &str,
     _post_idx: Option<usize>,
 ) -> String {
     let reduced = state.reduced.read().await;
     let content = content_for_garden_view(&reduced, &nav.scope());
     let edge_history = vote_edge_history_markup(content, left, right);
-    let next_pair = suggest_next_vote_pair(content, left, right);
-    let nav_markup = vote_compare_nav_markup(nav, next_pair.as_ref());
+    let next_pair = suggest_next_vote_pair(content, left, right, pool);
+    let nav_markup = vote_compare_nav_markup(nav, next_pair.as_ref(), pool);
     drop(reduced);
     JsBuilder::new()
         .morph_inner_selector("#vote-edge-history-region", edge_history)
@@ -231,27 +232,39 @@ pub(super) fn vote_compare_href(
     left: &ItemId,
     right: &ItemId,
     thread_override: Option<&str>,
+    pool: Option<&ItemId>,
 ) -> String {
     let left_q = urlencoding::encode(left.as_str());
     let right_q = urlencoding::encode(right.as_str());
-    let base = format!(
+    let mut base = format!(
         "{}/vote?left={}&right={}",
         nav.room_path_prefix_for_vote_compare(),
         left_q,
         right_q
     );
     if let Some(t) = thread_override.filter(|s| !s.is_empty()) {
-        format!("{}&thread={}", base, urlencoding::encode(t))
-    } else {
-        base
+        base = format!("{}&thread={}", base, urlencoding::encode(t));
+    }
+    if let Some(p) = pool {
+        base = format!("{}&pool={}", base, urlencoding::encode(p.as_str()));
     }
+    base
+}
+
+pub(super) fn vote_pool_href(nav: &ThreadNav, pool_item_str: &str) -> String {
+    format!(
+        "{}/vote?pool={}",
+        nav.room_path_prefix_for_vote_compare(),
+        urlencoding::encode(pool_item_str)
+    )
 }
 
 fn vote_compare_nav_markup(
     nav: &ThreadNav,
     next_pair: Option<&(ItemId, ItemId)>,
+    pool: Option<&ItemId>,
 ) -> maud::Markup {
-    let next_pair_href = next_pair.map(|(nl, nr)| vote_compare_href(nav, nl, nr, None));
+    let next_pair_href = next_pair.map(|(nl, nr)| vote_compare_href(nav, nl, nr, None, pool));
     html! {
         div class="vote-compare-nav" {
             @if let Some(href) = &next_pair_href {
@@ -267,8 +280,15 @@ pub(super) fn suggest_next_vote_pair(
     content: &ContentState,
     current_left: &ItemId,
     current_right: &ItemId,
+    pool_parent: Option<&ItemId>,
 ) -> Option<(ItemId, ItemId)> {
-    let pool: Vec<ItemId> = if current_left.parent().as_ref().map(|p| p.as_str())
+    let pool: Vec<ItemId> = if let Some(parent) = pool_parent {
+        content
+            .item_children
+            .get(parent)
+            .map(|s| s.iter().cloned().collect())
+            .unwrap_or_default()
+    } else if current_left.parent().as_ref().map(|p| p.as_str())
         == current_right.parent().as_ref().map(|p| p.as_str())
     {
         current_left
@@ -322,10 +342,14 @@ pub(super) fn vote_compare_item_card(
 }
 #[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]
 pub struct VoteCompareQuery {
-    pub left: String,
-    pub right: String,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub left: Option<String>,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub right: Option<String>,
     #[serde(default)]
     pub thread: Option<String>,
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub pool: Option<String>,
 }
 
 /// Public pairwise vote UI — `/vote?left=&right=&thread=`.
@@ -376,17 +400,53 @@ async fn vote_compare_inner(
     jar: CookieJar,
     uri: Uri,
 ) -> axum::response::Response {
-    let left = match ItemId::parse(q.left.trim()) {
-        Some(i) => i.normalized_storage(),
-        None => return (StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, "bad left item").into_response(),
+    let pool_id: Option<ItemId> = match q.pool.as_deref() {
+        Some(p) => match ItemId::parse(p.trim()) {
+            Some(i) => Some(i.normalized_storage()),
+            None => return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "bad pool item").into_response(),
+        },
+        None => None,
     };
-    let right = match ItemId::parse(q.right.trim()) {
-        Some(i) => i.normalized_storage(),
-        None => return (StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, "bad right item").into_response(),
+
+    let (left, right) = match (q.left.as_deref(), q.right.as_deref()) {
+        (Some(l), Some(r)) => {
+            let left = match ItemId::parse(l.trim()) {
+                Some(i) => i.normalized_storage(),
+                None => return (StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, "bad left item").into_response(),
+            };
+            let right = match ItemId::parse(r.trim()) {
+                Some(i) => i.normalized_storage(),
+                None => return (StatusCode::NOT_FOUND, "bad right item").into_response(),
+            };
+            if left == right {
+                return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "items must differ").into_response();
+            }
+            (left, right)
+        }
+        (None, None) => {
+            let Some(pool) = pool_id.as_ref() else {
+                return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "provide left+right or pool").into_response();
+            };
+            let reduced = state.reduced.read().await;
+            let content = content_for_garden_view(&reduced, &nav.scope());
+            let children: Vec<ItemId> = content
+                .item_children
+                .get(pool)
+                .map(|s| s.iter().cloned().collect())
+                .unwrap_or_default();
+            if children.len() < 2 {
+                drop(reduced);
+                return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "pool has fewer than 2 children to compare").into_response();
+            }
+            let pair = suggest_next_pair_in_pool(&content.ranking_group, &children, None);
+            drop(reduced);
+            match pair {
+                Some(p) => p,
+                None => return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "no pairs available in pool").into_response(),
+            }
+        }
+        _ => return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "provide both left and right, or just pool").into_response(),
     };
-    if left == right {
-        return (StatusCode::BAD_REQUEST, "items must differ").into_response();
-    }
 
     let reduced = state.reduced.read().await;
     let content = content_for_garden_view(&reduced, &nav.scope());
@@ -409,7 +469,7 @@ async fn vote_compare_inner(
     let left_body = content.item_bodies.get(&left).cloned();
     let right_body = content.item_bodies.get(&right).cloned();
     let item_bodies_for_cards = content.item_bodies.clone();
-    let next_pair = suggest_next_vote_pair(content, &left, &right);
+    let next_pair = suggest_next_vote_pair(content, &left, &right, pool_id.as_ref());
     drop(reduced);
 
     let title = format!(
@@ -432,6 +492,7 @@ async fn vote_compare_inner(
         "ratio_right": {"$form": "ratio_right"},
         "explanation": {"$form": "explanation"},
         "next": next_path,
+        "pool": pool_id.as_ref().map(|p| p.as_str()),
         "form_action": "/ui",
     }))
     .expect("vote compare rpc json");
@@ -456,7 +517,7 @@ async fn vote_compare_inner(
                 Some(&item_bodies_for_cards),
             ))
         }
-        (vote_compare_nav_markup(&nav, next_pair.as_ref()))
+        (vote_compare_nav_markup(&nav, next_pair.as_ref(), pool_id.as_ref()))
         div id="vote-edge-history-region" {
             (edge_history)
         }
diff --git a/server/src/html/ui_action.rs b/server/src/html/ui_action.rs
index dd5294202569454acf9f41b458718700bbf96f39..2589a2cc00bb7b18cd19ebcbb938083122d6921d 100644
--- a/server/src/html/ui_action.rs
+++ b/server/src/html/ui_action.rs
@@ -50,6 +50,9 @@ pub enum HtmlUiAction {
         explanation: String,
         /// Same-origin path after successful post (JS redirect).
         next: String,
+        /// Pool parent item path, if the vote was initiated from a pool URL.
+        #[serde(default)]
+        pool: Option<String>,
         #[serde(default = "default_ui_form_action")]
         form_action: String,
     },