Users browsing this thread:

**Somyrion** · 12-20-2019, 07:56 PM

Just an idea. Not sure if it'd work or have strong advantages, but in light of the recent discussions about gameside integration, I thought I'd post it. I don't mean to signal, by posting amendment text as opposed to a discussion thread, that this is actually much more than a vague idea at this point -- but it might be useful to have something like gameside voting for cabinet on the table while we're working out the parallel cabinet-expansion/LC involvement discussions.

Amendment to the Elections Act

Quote:
Elections Act

An act establishing elections for office
2. Electoral System

(1) Unless otherwise stated, elections held on the regional forums will be conducted via 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) The first round of voting will be conducted by the Assembly 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. Should no candidate receive at least 50% approval, the option to Re-Open Nominations will be "elected".
c. The two candidates with the highest number of approvals will move to a second round of voting conducted via a poll of Native World Assembly members.
d. Should the voting result in a tie, more than two nations may move onto the second round of voting. Instant Runoff Voting (IRV).
a. The form of IRV used must be Optional Preferential Voting (OPV); voters may vote for one or multiple candidates in descending order of preference.
b. Should no candidate have an absolute majority once all votes have been counted then the candidate with the least number of votes shall be eliminated from the election. Should more than one candidate have the least number of votes, the candidate with the least number of votes on the next order of preference shall be eliminated. If their numbers of votes are still equal, both shall be eliminated.
c. The votes of those voting for the eliminated candidate(s) will be reallocated based upon the expressed preferences, or discounted if no further preferences are expressed.
d. This process will continue until a candidate has an absolute majority.(3) After receiving the top candidates in the forum election, an Election Commissioner will create a regional poll accessible to Native World Assembly members, instructing them to vote for their preferred candidate.
a. A dispatch containing the campaigns of all candidates will be created to aid voters in their choice.
b. The candidate who wins a majority of the votes will be elected.
c. If no candidate wins a majority of votes, the top two candidates will be placed in a runoff election, mimicking the previous round of voting.

(24) The option to Re-Open Nominations must be included in all stages of the process as a "candidate". If elected, the election process for that office shall restart at the nomination phase.

(35) Voters will have the option to cast their vote using a secret ballot. The method of private voting will be selected by the Election Commission. The method must utilize an unaffiliated account or server, with the method and all votes remaining available for audit. Named ballots are not to be released under any circumstances.

(46) To be eligible to be included in a voting ballot, any candidate must post a campaign in an area designated by the Election Commission. The campaign must prominently include a truthful declaration of all potential conflicts of interest the candidate may have within and outside of the South Pacific.

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.

(21) 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. This round of voting for delegate will be conducted using Approval Voting.d. The two candidates with the highest number of approvals will move to a second round of voting conducted via a poll of Native World Assembly members.
e. Should the voting result in a tie, more than two nations may move onto the second round of voting.c. After the first round of voting, the regional poll for the second round will run for one week.(3) After receiving the top candidates in the forum election, an Election Commissioner will create a week-long regional poll accessible to Native World Assembly members, instructing them to vote for their preferred candidate.
a. A Dispatch containing the campaigns of all candidates will be created to aid voters in their choice.
b. The candidate who wins a majority of the votes will be declared the Delegate-elect.
c. If no candidate wins a majority of votes, the top two candidates will be placed in a runoff election, mimicking the previous round of voting.

(42) The incumbent Delegate will coordinate with the Delegate-elect in transitioning the seat, along with cooperation from the Council on Regional Security. Until the Delegate-elect achieves the most endorsements, the incumbent Delegate will still be responsible for all responsibilities that involve use of Delegate-restricted regional controls.

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 startthe first round of voting will start and last for 3 days. Legislators will cast their ballots for each position. Legislators may choose to abstain from voting on any or all positions.
d. After the first round of voting, a regional poll for the second round will be created for each position. Each poll will last for 3 days. The poll for Prime Minister must be run first, but subsequent polls will be ordered at the discretion of the Election Commission.(2) The candidate for each position with the most votes will be declared the Minister-elect by the Election Commission.

(32) The terms for the incoming Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers will begin the week after elections, during which any and all election-related disputes must be settled. The outgoing Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers will maintain their offices until then.

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.
c. There will be no on-site voting round for Chair elections.

(2) The candidate with the highest percentage of approval will be elected. Should the final candidates have an equal number of votes when all have been counted, the Elections Committee will select a method of arbitration. If the method chosen involves chance, then an unaffiliated Discord bot in a public channel will be used to generate a result randomly using a coin toss or some similar set of pre-defined outcomes.(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 receive at least 50% approval, the option to Re-Open Nominations will be "elected".

(3) The term for the incoming Chair will begin immediately following the conclusion of the election.

~ Aumeltopia ~

Auphelia Wrote:Raccoons are bandits! First they steal your food . . .
and then your heart/identity!

(This post was last modified: 12-20-2019, 10:11 PM by Somyrion.)

**Rebeltopia** · 12-20-2019, 08:41 PM

I think this is really putting the cart before the horse. We dont even know what gameside wants from us, since this is the first group of LC in years to have any care to bring up that gameside MAY want something to do with the offsite government.

"...if you're normal, the crowd will accept you. But if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader." - Christopher Titus
Deranged in NS since 2011

One and ONLY minion of LadyRebels
The OUTRAGEOUS CRAZY other half of LadyElysium

POSITIONS! POSITIONS, EVERYONE!!

Quotes

**Jay Coop** · 12-20-2019, 08:55 PM

(12-20-2019, 08:41 PM)Rebeltopia Wrote: I think this is really putting the cart before the horse. We dont even know what gameside wants from us, since this is the first group of LC in years to have any care to bring up that gameside MAY want something to do with the offsite government.

Maybe the Local Council should post a nonbinding poll on the matter.

4× Cabinet minister /// 1× OWL director /// CRS member /// SPSF

My History

**Beepee** · 12-20-2019, 11:10 PM

Following on from the discussion last night and this morning.

The LC will be asking the gameside shortly what they want, if anything, from any assembly, cabinet / Ministers.

As the representatives of the players in the region, our (LC) initial thoughts are that we seek greater interaction between the off-site and game side communities, but we shall expand on this after further discussion with gameside.

Either myself or Slab will inform the Assembly once this is complete.

Yours,

Check my links.....

SWAN 4 Life
https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1086117

**Belschaft** · 12-21-2019, 03:41 PM

I’m not inclined to support this, as I’m not convinced that the RMB is an effective platform for discussing the kind of issues that are relevant to Cabinet elections. Nor am I convinced that the average WA member in TSP has sufficient knowledge of the issues relating to foreign, security and military policy to cast a meaningful and informed vote.

Delegate elections are a special case and I’ve always been an advocate of having them conducted in-game from the moment it became viable within game mechanics. I would be more interested in looking at the way the LC & MoRA interact with each other than moving Cabinet elections in-game.

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

PREVIOUS ROLES

***sandaoguo*** · 12-22-2019, 10:51 AM

Why do we have to do this every 6 months? This has been proven to be a bad idea time and time again. The RMB barely likes the Local Council elections. Every single time more politics is forced into the RMB, the majority of people there get annoyed and angry. And the minority who like it end up causing problems and, let’s face it, become a source of toxicity.

Polling the RMB is a fool’s errand, and I just don’t understand why the lesson is never retained. Every time the Cabinet is composed of a relatively new set of leaders, particularly in RA, we have to go through this painful exercise. Yes, the RMB will say it wants everything to happen on the RMB. (And yes, it’s obvious if you ask an LC member if they want more influence and power for the LC, they will say yes...) Yes, they will say they want more power. No, they won’t actually mean it and won’t like it if it’s ever implemented. Please, for the sake of the community, stop trying this. You aren’t doing the right thing, even if you think you are.

(This post was last modified: 12-22-2019, 10:55 AM by sandaoguo.)

***Tsunamy*** · 12-22-2019, 12:15 PM

I've been staying out of this discussion — and plan to remain that way.

But ... how many times are Bel and Glen on the same side of an issue?

-tsunamy
[forum admin]

**Amerion** · 12-22-2019, 12:23 PM

(12-22-2019, 12:15 PM)Tsunamy Wrote: I've been staying out of this discussion — and plan to remain that way.

But ... how many times are Bel and Glen on the same side of an issue?

It's a Christmas miracle.

**Rebeltopia** · 12-23-2019, 10:11 AM

(12-22-2019, 10:51 AM)sandaoguo Wrote: Why do we have to do this every 6 months? This has been proven to be a bad idea time and time again. The RMB barely likes the Local Council elections. Every single time more politics is forced into the RMB, the majority of people there get annoyed and angry. And the minority who like it end up causing problems and, let’s face it, become a source of toxicity.

This is pretty much EXACTLY what I was saying in discord the other day. In theory it works. In practice... not so much.

"...if you're normal, the crowd will accept you. But if you're deranged, the crowd will make you their leader." - Christopher Titus
Deranged in NS since 2011

One and ONLY minion of LadyRebels
The OUTRAGEOUS CRAZY other half of LadyElysium

POSITIONS! POSITIONS, EVERYONE!!

Quotes

***Tsunamy*** · 12-23-2019, 10:41 AM

To be fair ... I think it's been a bit more than six months since the last time we've had this discussion.

-tsunamy
[forum admin]