The problem with voting is that often, some moderators won't show their faces for a month. The last time we permabanned a user, it was put to the rest of the staff whether or not it should be, and everyone who was present within 24 hours fully supported the ban.
I haven't given out an infraction in some time, but I've generally come to the opinion that infractions are impersonal and cause a greater divide between staff and the rest of the community, (a divide which I think we've all worked hard to lessen since the first half of '11 when there was a lot of concern about how we do our jobs) and for a first offense, I'd much rather tell someone "Hey, you can't really do that" than fire them off a mark on their permanent record.
I'm also of the habit of copying the quotes from these conversations into the Cave for people to be generally aware of the exchange. I understand that this method can be subject to doctoring, but I do trust the other moderators, and I don't believe we've got anyone here who would feel a need to do that, nor have anything to gain from it.
Wanna come back to the team and see?
EDIT: Hey, Tore, reading your subsequent posts in the thread, I haven't seen the behaviour you've mentioned regarding permabans in the 10 months I've been moderating.