Regular Delegate Election Procedure [DRAFT]

[Milograd]

<a class='bbc_url' href='http://forums.thesouthpacific.org/single/?p=8067431&t=7851251'><strong class='bbc'>Original Idea</strong> - I did my best at explaining it here, but writing laws honestly isn't one of my strongpoints.</a>



This is my first draft at this and it's my first time writing a legislation proposal here in a while. It could definitely use a lot of work, so I would appreciate hearing anyone's constructive comments, suggestions and opinions. I was tired when I wrote this, so please pardon any typos or grammatical errors. Thank you!

<strong class='bbc'>Delegate Election Law</strong>



<strong class='bbc'>Preamble</strong>



For the sake of providing TSP with a fairer, simpler, and more inclusive system for electing the region's World Assembly Delegate (WAD), the following procedure has been established.



<strong class='bbc'>Section I. Delegate Election Dates</strong>



1. Elections for the position of The South Pacific's World Assembly Delegate shall begin on the first days of the months of June and December.



<strong class='bbc'>Section II. Election Management</strong>



1. The conditions of sections one, six, seven, eight, and nine of the L-Two Election Law apply to the elections described in section one.



2. TSP Delegate Elections are broken down into two primary stages: the qualifying period, which takes place in the game, and the voting period, which takes place on the forum.



<strong class='bbc'>Section III: Before the Voting Period</strong>



1. A notice informing the entire region of elections must be posted two weeks prior to the region's forum elections on the WFE. It must acknowledge that people interested in voting in our elections must join the World Assembly within three days of the WFE being updated.



2. Throughout that duration, players interested in running for delegacy may do so. To do so, they must inform the incumbent delegate of their intent to run for delegacy. A candidate must acquire eighty percent of the number of endorsements set by the region's endorsement cap and must send the aforementioned notice to the delegate to be included on the forum vote's ballot.



3. A message must be sent to the entire region three days before the beginning of the forum vote, and it must inform provide them with a link to this forum, this law, and an explanation of how they can participate in the voting process.



<strong class='bbc'>Section IV: During the Voting Period </strong>



1. After two weeks, candidates who fulfill the two conditions outlined in the second bullet point of the third section of this law must be included on the WA Delegate Election ballot by the Election Commissioners.



2. A special forum for the elections must be created. It must appear and function in a way that resembles how election forums for cabinet positions.



3. All citizens are eligible to vote during the voting period, and newly registered members of the forums will be granted the ability to vote insofar as they have had their WA nation in TSP since the beginning of the initial campaign period.



4. The voting periods ends seventy-two hours after 12:00:00am of the days acknowledged in the first section of this law. Whoever has the most votes at the end of the voting period is the winner of the election.



<strong class='bbc'>Section V: Tiebreakers </strong>



1. If there is a tie in the lead for most votes at the end of the voting period, a tiebreaker vote must be conducted between the remaining candidates.



2. Tiebreaker votes must begin 12 hours after the end of the voting period, and last for 24 hours.



3. If a tiebreaker vote ends in a tie, the winner of the delegacy election is to be decided by whichever of the candidates becomes the in-game delegate first. In this case, candidates may break the endorsement cap.



<del>4. If the incumbent delegate finds his or herself in the situation described in the third bullet point of this section, they must challenge all their other challengers to a rap battle to determine the next delegate for the sake of fairness. Whoever acquires the most applause is the new delegate of TSP.</del>



4. If the incumbent delegate finds his or herself in the situation described in the third bullet point of this section, they must retain their delegacy in-game for a week to keep their position as the region's delegate.

[Rebel-topia]

I like it... too tired atm to actually help with the verbiage, though.Id add the relevant sections of the (current) election law to this bill

[God-Emperor]

I don't like it for reasons stated in the delegate election reform thread...

[Hileville]

Not sure about this and will have to give it some thought. I also think the Delegate elections should be moved o January and July to run concurrently with the new cabinet election system.

[Milograd]

I don't like it for reasons stated in the delegate election reform thread...

I recently responded to those concerns. I hope that my response clarifies the benefits of this proposal.

Not sure about this and will have to give it some thought. I also think the Delegate elections should be moved o January and July to run concurrently with the new cabinet election system.

If everyone else agrees, I'll move the dates to January and July. Changing the dates seems like a reasonable idea.

[Todd McCloud]

1. After two weeks, candidates who fulfill the two conditions outlined in the <strong class='bbc'>second bullet point of the second section</strong> of this law must be included on the WA Delegate Election ballot by the Election Commissioners.

Don't you mean Section Three, Point 2? Furthermore, the endorsement cap is at 100, which gives these nations a cushion of 10 endorsements to play with (above 90% but not above the cap). That's kind of a small window IMO. Wouldn't it be better to have it at 80%? I'm just concerned, like what happens if two weeks from then a runner at 92 endorsements wakes up and some nations he was endorsing CTE, leaving him at 89 right before elections. Would that therefore bar him from running?

4. The voting periods ends forty-eight hours after 12:00:00am of the days acknowledged in the first section of this law. Whoever has the most votes at the end of the voting period is the winner of the election.

That's kind of a short voting period. Maybe extend it to 72 hours?

[Heronlord]

hmmm 72 hours would be much better for me. I have RL intervene often.

[Milograd]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' >1. After two weeks, candidates who fulfill the two conditions outlined in the <strong class='bbc'>second bullet point of the second section</strong> of this law must be included on the WA Delegate Election ballot by the Election Commissioners.

Don't you mean Section Three, Point 2? Furthermore, the endorsement cap is at 100, which gives these nations a cushion of 10 endorsements to play with (above 90% but not above the cap). That's kind of a small window IMO. Wouldn't it be better to have it at 80%? I'm just concerned, like what happens if two weeks from then a runner at 92 endorsements wakes up and some nations he was endorsing CTE, leaving him at 89 right before elections. Would that therefore bar him from running?

4. The voting periods ends forty-eight hours after 12:00:00am of the days acknowledged in the first section of this law. Whoever has the most votes at the end of the voting period is the winner of the election.

That's kind of a short voting period. Maybe extend it to 72 hours?
</blockquote>I agree. Fix'd!

[God-Emperor]

<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote' data-author="God-Emperor">I don't like it for reasons stated in the delegate election reform thread...

I recently responded to those concerns. I hope that my response clarifies the benefits of this proposal.

</blockquote>
My biggest issue with the most of the proposals is that the forum vote is used to drag candidates over the finish line, when I think they should simply be used to vet potential contenders.

[Heronlord]

hmmmm you dont think the inherent race to endo limit is a vetting of possible candidates capable and willing to commit to TSP?

[God-Emperor]

No.

[Hileville]

After a lot of thought I don't care for this. I don't like the combination as is. I think we need to keep the core of getting the regions opinion on the Delegate election. I will chat with Elu and Unibot to see about there system for Council elections. It seems to work very well there and they get a lot of response. Also I have learned that we have a lot of nations in region that pay attention to things through the various pm's and such that I receive but just don't come on the forums.

[HEM]

Primarily take it off the NS site. That's been my stance for a while. I think this is a good plan.

[Milograd]

After a lot of thought I don't care for this. I don't like the combination as is. I think we need to keep the core of getting the regions opinion on the Delegate election. I will chat with Elu and Unibot to see about there system for Council elections. It seems to work very well there and they get a lot of response. Also I have learned that we have a lot of nations in region that pay attention to things through the various pm's and such that I receive but just don't come on the forums.

We've been waiting on that system for a few months now, so I was not sure if it was still on the table when I wrote this. If we receive permission to use it and the tools necessary to use it, and it isn't easily abused, I might support using their system, but until we can use it I firmly believe that this is our best possible option.

[HEM]

I don't trust a system controlled/monitored/designed primarily by one other person.

[God-Emperor]

I believe I brought that up in the original thread.

[Milograd]

Oh, and that too.

[HEM]

A forum based election encourages debate on serious issues. A more "real" election, if you will. This will stimulate activity and new ideas for the South.

[Hileville]

I am going to draft a new bill that will just bring the Delegate elections on forums and every 4 months along side the cabinet elections.

[God-Emperor]

Commented.

[Antariel]

I'm closing this one for now given the vast amount of similar threads, if anyone wants it reopened, let me know.