Hello everyone, I'm Belschaft, your 'friendly' neighbourhood Election Commissioner.
 

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In accordance with the Elections Act;

Nominations will open at 00.00 on the 1st of October, BST, and will run for six days. Nominations will close at 00.00 on the 7th of October, BST.

The Campaign Period will begin at 00.00 on the 4th of October, BST, and will run for seven days. The Campaign Period will end at 00.00 on the 11th of October, BST.

Voting will open from 00.00 on the 11th of October, BST, and will run for three days. Voting will close at 00.00 on the 14th of October, BST.

Campaigning is not limited to the designated Campaign Period, nor are there proscribed methods of campaigning. Candidates should nevertheless familiarise themselves with the Criminal Code, The RMB Etiquette and Rules, and NationStates own Etiquette and Rules. Whilst I am not empowered to disqualify candidates for breach of these, I will be paying close attention to the conduct of candidates and their campaigns, and will refer any breaches to the appropriate authorities.
 

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To be eligible for ballot access in this election you must;

1. Be a Legislator at 00.00 on the 1st of October.
2. Post a campaign in the designated sub-forum of the Elections Headquarters. This campaign must "include a truthful declaration of all potential conflicts of interest the candidate may have within and outside of the South Pacific".

You may also nominate other legislators for a particular office. Nominations or the acceptance of such have no official standing; only posting a campaign thread in the designated sub-forum counts for formal candidature declaration purposes.

This election will be conducted via Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), using the Optional Preferential Voting (OPV) variant. Voters may list as many or as few candidates as they like, in order of preference, with 1. or the first placed name reading top-to-bottom, left-to-right, being their first preference. The candidate with the least number of votes will be eliminated and their votes reallocated, continuing until a candidate has an absolute majority of remaining votes.

Voters may choose to abstain, spoil their ballot, or vote to Re Open Nominations (RON). Abstentions and spoilt ballots will be discarded. Should RON receive an absolute majority of votes then the election will be restarted.

In this election the Vote Collector account will not be used to receive private ballots. All ballots must be posted publicly in the correct thread in the voting booth.

The Vote Collector account will be used to receive private ballots. Instructions detailing the required format for private ballots will be issued when voting begins.

In the event that no candidate achieves an absolute majority, I will determine a method to decide the election. This method will be made publicly known and explained.

After I have counted the votes and announced the results, there will be a one week period during which any and all election-related disputes must be settled.
 

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Only those citizens possessing Legislator status when Nominations open will be eligible to vote in this election. Votes cast by individuals who do not meet this criteria will be discarded.
 

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Any queries or questions should be made in this thread.

(09-30-2018, 02:07 PM)Belschaft Wrote: In this election the Vote Collector account will not be used to receive private ballots. All ballots must be posted publicly in the correct thread in the voting booth.

I am submitting an official protest to this decision. The secret ballot has long been a critical component in defending the ability for one to vote freely, and in the often divisive politics of the South Pacific this decision undermines the integrity of our elections and the democratic freedoms of our region.

(09-30-2018, 04:39 PM)Farengeto Wrote:

(09-30-2018, 02:07 PM)Belschaft Wrote: In this election the Vote Collector account will not be used to receive private ballots. All ballots must be posted publicly in the correct thread in the voting booth.

I am submitting an official protest to this decision. The secret ballot has long been a critical component in defending the ability for one to vote freely, and in the often divisive politics of the South Pacific this decision undermines the integrity of our elections and the democratic freedoms of our region.

I understand this argument, but I am attempting to conduct this election in as strict alignment with the Election Act as possible. I can find no reference to a secret ballot option in any of our laws.

Edit: I will consider this request, and come to a decision in a couple of days time. If anyone else wishes to express an opinion on this please feel free to do so.

(09-30-2018, 04:39 PM)Farengeto Wrote:

(09-30-2018, 02:07 PM)Belschaft Wrote: In this election the Vote Collector account will not be used to receive private ballots. All ballots must be posted publicly in the correct thread in the voting booth.

I am submitting an official protest to this decision. The secret ballot has long been a critical component in defending the ability for one to vote freely, and in the often divisive politics of the South Pacific this decision undermines the integrity of our elections and the democratic freedoms of our region.

I second this protest. I fully believe that people should ought to have the right to cast a ballot in private and without the pressure of public knowledge. I support the confirmation of private votes via the vote collector as that does the same thing as having every vote be public while also allowing a private ballot to be cast.

(09-30-2018, 05:18 PM)Belschaft Wrote:

(09-30-2018, 04:39 PM)Farengeto Wrote:

(09-30-2018, 02:07 PM)Belschaft Wrote: In this election the Vote Collector account will not be used to receive private ballots. All ballots must be posted publicly in the correct thread in the voting booth.

I am submitting an official protest to this decision. The secret ballot has long been a critical component in defending the ability for one to vote freely, and in the often divisive politics of the South Pacific this decision undermines the integrity of our elections and the democratic freedoms of our region. 

I understand this argument, but I am attempting to conduct this election in as strict alignment with the Election Act as possible. I can find no reference to a secret ballot option in any of our laws.

Edit: I will consider this request, and come to a decision in a couple of days time. If anyone else wishes to express an opinion on this please feel free to do so. 

The argument of "strict alignment with the Election Act " is a incorrect one. The laws specify neither way on the matter of public vs private voting, and mentions methods and venues nowhere. You can therefore not argue it is in strict alignment with the law, when there is no law on the matter.

(09-30-2018, 09:10 PM)Farengeto Wrote:

(09-30-2018, 05:18 PM)Belschaft Wrote:

(09-30-2018, 04:39 PM)Farengeto Wrote:

(09-30-2018, 02:07 PM)Belschaft Wrote: In this election the Vote Collector account will not be used to receive private ballots. All ballots must be posted publicly in the correct thread in the voting booth.

I am submitting an official protest to this decision. The secret ballot has long been a critical component in defending the ability for one to vote freely, and in the often divisive politics of the South Pacific this decision undermines the integrity of our elections and the democratic freedoms of our region. 

I understand this argument, but I am attempting to conduct this election in as strict alignment with the Election Act as possible. I can find no reference to a secret ballot option in any of our laws.

Edit: I will consider this request, and come to a decision in a couple of days time. If anyone else wishes to express an opinion on this please feel free to do so. 

The argument of "strict alignment with the Election Act " is a incorrect one. The laws specify neither way on the matter of public vs private voting, and mentions methods and venues nowhere. You can therefore not argue it is in strict alignment with the law, when there is no law on the matter.

I am aware that the laws provide no direction in regards to whether the ballot is conducted publicly or privately; if they did provide such a direction I would be following it to the letter, as I am trying to do so in all other respects.

I can see two contradicting arguments in regards to the issue of a secret ballot, neither of which has a basis in our laws. The argument you have made in favour of a secret ballot is that people may feel able to vote however they want, without fear of intimidation or consequences. The contrasting argument is that a public vote provides transparency and accountability.

I will continue to consider this matter, and make a decision after nominations close but before the campaign period ends.

The law is that the Election Commission decides particulars of elections that aren't otherwise laid out in written law. So it's up to the EC to decide if private ballots are allowed. Tradition is that they are, which might help in making a subjective decision. I don't recall an election that didn't allow them since I joined.

Question for the EC: What is the policy on a candidate running for multiple positions?

(10-03-2018, 04:39 AM)Amerion Wrote: Question for the EC: What is the policy on a candidate running for multiple positions?

This is prohibited by Article 4.1.a. of the Elections Act, which specifies;

"For the first 6 days of the election period, legislators may declare their candidacy for only one position."

This would of course not apply to the election of Craziest Person in the South Pacific, this not being a position.

(10-03-2018, 10:26 AM)Belschaft Wrote:

(10-03-2018, 04:39 AM)Amerion Wrote: Question for the EC: What is the policy on a candidate running for multiple positions?

This is prohibited by Article 4.1.a. of the Elections Act, which specifies;

"For the first 6 days of the election period, legislators may declare their candidacy for only one position."

This would of course not apply to the election of Craziest Person in the South Pacific, this not being a position. 

Craziest in TSP is a position.