I agree that promotions are broken, not sure about making them public or votes or whatever.

I think ultimately part of the problem is that promotions come with raises, companies are cheap and only have room for so many staff or principal engineers.

It doesn't help that turnover in this industry is high, but working (note: not good, or bug free, or even high quality, just working) software is still produced at a high rate, so business types don't see a problem.

Software developers must seem extremely replaceable due to how much churn exists in the industry and how software is still being made at breakneck speed in spite of the churn.

Could just as well be titled “one more reason why middle management is worse than no management.” Bean counters only know how to count, why do you expect them to make rational, qualified decisions from a distance?