[PASSED] Confirmation of Chipoli as Election Commissioner

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Hulldom:
Following Fregerson's vacating his seat on the Electoral Commission, I hereby appoint Chipoli to the Electoral Commission.
@Chipoli has been appointed to serve as an Election Commissioner by Delegate @Hulldom. I hereby open the floor for debate and discussion on the nomination. I would welcome a statement in support of the nomination from the Delegate.

Should this reach a vote, I will put the following motion before the Regional Assembly:
Motion:
The Regional Assembly, acting on the nomination of the Delegate, appoints Chipoli to the Election Commission.
 
I don't have terribly much to say here other than that Chipoli approached me about the opportunity to serve a few weeks ago and the time appears to be ripe. Chipoli will no doubt dedicate himself diligently to the work of the EC as he definitely has dedicated himself diligently to the work of the WA Ministry and other places this term.
 
@Chipoli If someone leaves their preference for RON blank on a ballot, would their vote still count?

If someone leaves all the choices on their ballot but bolds one option in each category, would you count those votes?

If someone ranks someone as their first choice and someone as their second choice, the first choice candidate is eliminated but the second choice ties with another candidate, how is their vote counted to break the tie?

If someone only chooses one candidate in a ranked election, and does not put the number 1 on their ballot does it count?
 
@Chipoli If someone leaves their preference for RON blank on a ballot, would their vote still count?
Section 5.1 of the Rules of the Election Commission states: "If a voter does not vote Yes or No to a question to re-open nominations for a given office, their vote for that office will not be counted."
Therefore, the vote will not be counted.

If someone leaves all the choices on their ballot but bolds one option in each category, would you count those votes?
Yes, I would. Bolding one of the options does count as selecting one of the choices.

If someone ranks someone as their first choice and someone as their second choice, the first choice candidate is eliminated but the second choice ties with another candidate, how is their vote counted to break the tie?
In the situation that you described, the votes for the second-choice candidate will be distributed based on the voters' third-choice preference.

If the voter only ranked two candidates, their vote will be allocated to their second-choice candidate, regardless of whether or not that candidate is tied with another candidate. In this case, the tie between the second-choice candidate and the other candidate would be broken based on the allocation of votes from other voters who ranked those candidates.

If someone only chooses one candidate in a ranked election, and does not put the number 1 on their ballot does it count?
Section 5.4 of the Rules of the Election Commission states: "If a voter selects fewer candidates for a given office than are allowed, their unused selections will be treated as abstentions, and their votes for that office will be counted."

Therefore, their vote would be counted. The voter in your scenario selected only one candidate in a ranked election. Since they didn't use all their selections, their remaining votes would be considered abstentions.
 
Section 5.1 of the Rules of the Election Commission states: "If a voter does not vote Yes or No to a question to re-open nominations for a given office, their vote for that office will not be counted."
Therefore, the vote will not be counted.


Yes, I would. Bolding one of the options does count as selecting one of the choices.


In the situation that you described, the votes for the second-choice candidate will be distributed based on the voters' third-choice preference.

If the voter only ranked two candidates, their vote will be allocated to their second-choice candidate, regardless of whether or not that candidate is tied with another candidate. In this case, the tie between the second-choice candidate and the other candidate would be broken based on the allocation of votes from other voters who ranked those candidates.


Section 5.4 of the Rules of the Election Commission states: "If a voter selects fewer candidates for a given office than are allowed, their unused selections will be treated as abstentions, and their votes for that office will be counted."

Therefore, their vote would be counted. The voter in your scenario selected only one candidate in a ranked election. Since they didn't use all their selections, their remaining votes would be considered abstentions.
I notice you didn’t cite any legal language for the answer to the third question. Can you find any that would help, because I think you may have missed something.

For your final answer, I think you misread my question. You answered a question I did not ask. Yes they only selected one candidate, and any other subsequent choice that would be looked at is an abstention - but what I wanted to know was, since they didn’t put a number on their one choice, does it even count in round one of the voting?
 
In a recent election, a citizen possibly attempted to enter the field by saying "I nominate myself". They were not added to the ballot, as the Election Commission decided that the language used did not constitute a Declaration of Candidacy. Do you believe the Election Commission made the right decision? Why or why not?
 
In a recent election, a citizen possibly attempted to enter the field by saying "I nominate myself". They were not added to the ballot, as the Election Commission decided that the language used did not constitute a Declaration of Candidacy. Do you believe the Election Commission made the right decision? Why or why not?
I agree with the Election Commission. Nominating yourself is not a valid way of putting yourself on the ballot.

The Election Commission’s process for becoming a candidate goes like this: “To run, one must either accept a nomination or declare candidacy in this thread. To withdraw from running, one must post a withdrawal of candidacy in this thread.”

The citizen in question posted: “I nominate [myself].” This was not one of the options for someone when they decide to run for office. The proper way to do this was to declare your candidacy, not nominate yourself. Therefore, the nomination in question shall not be counted.
 
I notice you didn’t cite any legal language for the answer to the third question. Can you find any that would help, because I think you may have missed something.
Earlier, I stated that “The tie between the second-choice candidate and the other candidate would be broken based on the allocation of votes from other voters who ranked those candidates.” Which means the candidate that had the most votes during that round would move on to the next one.

In Chapter 4 of the legal code, clause 29 states that if two or more candidates are tied in votes: “The candidate who has the least votes at the latest stage of counting where there is a difference in votes will be eliminated. If this does not break a tie, a runoff vote will be held between the tied candidates.”

Hopefully that should clarify things.


For your final answer, I think you misread my question. You answered a question I did not ask. Yes they only selected one candidate, and any other subsequent choice that would be looked at is an abstention - but what I wanted to know was, since they didn’t put a number on their one choice, does it even count in round one of the voting?
Clause 31 of the legal code states: “If there are more than two candidates for an election, voters may rank the candidates.” Therefore, due the language of said clause, voters are not required to rank the candidates.

Clause 32 states: “All first preference votes shall be counted first.” If a voter indicated they are voting for only one candidate, that candidate will qualify as the voter’s first preference, due to them abstaining from ranking the other candidates. So yes, their vote would count in round one of the voting.
 
Chip, I'm going to help you out with Pallaith's 3rd question. He set a pretty good trap card there, probably expecting you to overcomplicate the answer, which you did.

Review the results of the May 2022 Special Judicial Election (https://forum.thenorthpacific.org/topic/9195894/), and you'll find the answer to Pallaith's question there. Use Heliopolis's ballot as the example Pallaith is referring to.

When you have the answer to Pallaith's question, post that, as well as the following:
1. Explain how LC 4.4.29 was applied.
2. What was Heliopolis's ballot?
 
To answer Ghost's question, the voter's vote is counted as part of the countback process. If 2 candidates are tied after the initial vote count or countback, the votes will be recounted with the redistributed votes from the eliminated candidates. If there is still a deadlock, a runoff vote will decide the winner.

LC 4.4.29 was applied by eliminating Gorundu from the election. A runoff vote was scheduled between Lord Dominator and Zyvet because they remained in a deadlock.

In Healiopolis's ballot, his first choice was Gorundu. Gorundu was eliminated with the least amount of votes. His second choice was Lord Dominator, who tied with Zyvet.
 
What is your thought on the last request on the EC regarding the acceptance or not of a self-nomination as a declaration of candidacy?
 
What is your thought on the last request on the EC regarding the acceptance or not of a self-nomination as a declaration of candidacy?
As mentioned previously, I believe the EC made the right call, based on the rule I provided.

I am open for a rule-change to allow oneself to nominate themself, since it would not do any harm and nominating yourself would do the same thing as declaring candidacy, which is announcing that you will run in the election.
 
Doesn’t seem like anyone else wants to weigh in on this, so I’ll go ahead and motion for a vote.
 
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