# Why is the number of required close votes constant?

How do high traffic questions survive without any system in place to prevent them from being closed too easily? It seems strange to me that the number of votes required to close a question is a constant $$5$$. If, for example, a low traffic question requires $$5$$ votes out of $$40$$ viewers, while a high traffic question requires $$5$$ votes out of $$10000$$ viewers, then the latter should be much more likely to happen by "chance," independent of question quality, since it only requires a fraction of a percentage of viewers to apply anomalous voting criteria. Why don't all high traffic questions either end up closed, or in a constant close-reopen-reclose war?

• "without any system in place" there is a system. I'll elaborate later
– quid Mod
Jun 20 '20 at 16:13
• May be users voting to close questions do so in a discplined manner applying to acceptable criteria? Jun 20 '20 at 19:58
• @JyrkiLahtonen While I don't doubt this is generally true, the issue is that the standard required approaches perfection as the number of potential voters evaluating a question grows large, which is too optimistic to expect from any large group. Jun 20 '20 at 21:55
• @JyrkiLahtonen Even if users vote in a disciplined manner, there's disagreement over what the acceptable criteria are. Then if there are only five people on either side of a close/open difference of opinion, if they keep voting with discipline that question will be perpetually closed and reopened. Jun 22 '20 at 15:23