@SaTT Thanks for the good questions.
We think 1 year is a good time frame. 
The waiting time period would be from the time the user has registered their voting node.
Statistics on voting can be calculated based on voting key.

This is a good Is 1 year too long for users to wait? 6 months might be better. Is this from the time of the airdrop or the time the user has a a voting node? Also how will you tell if they actually are voting the 50% of the time?

The voting is only opened to node It is however important to be mindful of the rules kept since the market is competitive.