There are two things I'd like to discuss in relation to the Elections act:
(1) First, clarifying whether campaigning and debates should or should not happen during the voting period.
Currently, the Elections Act seems to differentiate between a campaigning period and a voting period under 3.2:
Quote:3. Office of The Delegate
(1) The Delegate will be elected in a two-step process, with the Assembly voting on a slate of nominees on the forums, and the top two candidates in that process being voted on by regional poll on-site.
(2) On the first of every January and July, the Assembly will convene for the first round of Delegate elections.
a. Any eligible legislator wishing to run for Delegate may declare their candidacy, and the Assembly will debate the merits of their platform. Any player who has been banned from World Assembly membership will be considered ineligible and any candidate who is later discovered to be banned from World Assembly membership will be immediately disqualified.
b. The campaign and debate period will last one week, after which the Assembly will vote for 3 days.
c. The two candidates ranked first and second under IRV will move to a second round of voting conducted via a a poll of Native World Assembly members.
and 4.1:
Quote:4. Offices of the Cabinet
(1) On the first of every February, June and October, the Assembly will convene to elect the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.
a. For the first 6 days of the election period, legislators may declare their candidacy for only one position.
b. After 3 days, a campaign period of one week will start, where candidates may campaign and the Assembly will debate the merits of their platforms.
c. After the week-long campaign period, a voting period of 3 days will start. Legislators will cast their ballots for each position. Legislators may choose to abstain from voting on any or all positions.
As well as 5.1:
Quote:5. Office of the Chair
(1) Eight days before the end of a Chair's term, the Assembly will convene to elect the Chair of the Assembly.
a. Any legislator wishing to run for Chair may declare their candidacy, and the Assembly will debate the merits of their platform.
b. The campaign and debate period will last 5 days, after which the Assembly will vote for 3 days.
Since it doesn't
explicitly disallow campaigning during the voting period, one could interpret it to say that campaigning can happen until the last moment of voting.
I would like us to discuss whether Campaigning should or should not be allowed during the voting period, and then to amend the Elections Act to clarify that decision.
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(2) The second thing I'd like to discuss is moving away from Approval Voting for the CoA to some other electoral system:
Quote:5. Office of the Chair
(1) Eight days before the end of a Chair's term, the Assembly will convene to elect the Chair of the Assembly.
a. Any legislator wishing to run for Chair may declare their candidacy, and the Assembly will debate the merits of their platform.
b. The campaign and debate period will last 5 days, after which the Assembly will vote for 3 days.
(2) The voting for the Chair will be conducted using Approval Voting.
a. Voters may vote for as many candidates as they approve of, or vote for none by voting to Re-Open Nominations.
b. The candidate with the highest percentage of approval will be elected.
c. Should no candidate recieve at least 50% approval, the option to Re-Open Nominations will be "elected".
I would personally suggest changing it so that if it's 2 candidates, it would be FPTP voting, and if it's 3 or more it would be IRV.
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Depending on the Poll and the outcome of the discussions, I will draft an amendment to the Elections Act and post it up.
