My fellow legislators,

I come before you after a call on the RMB about the nomination period of the Local Council Election. There was an issue brought up about nomination times, and how some nominated individuals did not receive their notification of nomination in time for the close of the nomination period.

I am not here to lay the blame on any person: as a previous Election Commissioner for the Local Council election, I know how hard it can be sometimes to get the message out in a timely manner, especially when the nomination is done late and one cannot reach out to the nominee in time.

Thus, I have come up with two possible ammendments in hopes to make it easier for both the Election
Commissioners and the Nominees to get those nominations done within a reasonable time frame. I present two in hopes to get various viewpoints on a solution.

Option 1:

Elections Act Wrote:5. Local Council
(1) Immediately following the ending of the Cabinet elections, the Election Commission will begin an election for the Local Council.

a. For the first 3 5 days of the election period, residents may declare their candidacy by telegramming an election commissioner
b. Following this nomination period, a campaign period of one week 5 days will start, where candidates may campaign and debate the merits of their platforms.
c. After the week-long5 day campaign period, a three voting periods of 3 days will start.

(2) The election will be held via a regional poll accessible to World Assembly Natives, instructing them to vote for their preferred candidate.
a. A Dispatch containing the campaigns of candidates will be created to aid voters in their choice.
b. Upon the conclusion of the first and second rounds of voting, the candidates with the most votes will be awarded a spot on the Local Council.
c. If more than twelve people are candidates, the vote will be split into two 3-day polls with the top 12 vote-receiving candidates continuing onto the set of nine voting days.
d. Should the poll produce a tied result, in first or second three-day election, the tied candidates will receive seats and the unneeded elections will be canceled.
e.  Should a tie result in the third, three-day election, the tied candidates will move onto a runoff.

Option 2:

Elections Act Wrote:5. Local Council
(1) Immediately following the ending of the Cabinet elections, the Election Commission will begin an election for the Local Council.

a. For the first 310 days of the election period, residents may declare their candidacy by telegramming an election commissioner
b. FollowingDuring this nomination period, a campaign period of one week will start, where candidates may campaign and debate the merits of their platforms.
c. After the week-long10 day nomination and campaign period, a three voting periods of 3 days will start.

(2) The election will be held via a regional poll accessible to World Assembly Natives, instructing them to vote for their preferred candidate.
a. A Dispatch containing the campaigns of candidates will be created to aid voters in their choice.
b. Upon the conclusion of the first and second rounds of voting, the candidates with the most votes will be awarded a spot on the Local Council.
c. If more than twelve people are candidates, the vote will be split into two 3-day polls with the top 12 vote-receiving candidates continuing onto the set of nine voting days.
d. Should the poll produce a tied result, in first or second three-day election, the tied candidates will receive seats and the unneeded elections will be canceled.
e.  Should a tie result in the third, three-day election, the tied candidates will move onto a runoff.

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Although I prefer Option 2 as it gives more time to get nominations in without slowing down and cutting  the campaign times of other candidates, I also appreciate having a set closing time for nominations before the voting begins as it is easier to keep track of the candidates.

I do not however believe in adding any extra time to the nomination period without removing it from somewhere else (notably the campaigning period), as the LC elections are long as is.

Thus, I propose these two options for debate in this Assembly.