Election Commissioner Appointments

The delegate has appointed several citizens to the Election Commission. Per the Legal Code, Chapter 6 Clause 11, these appointments are subject to RA confirmation. The confirmation will follow non-legislative procedures. Here are the appointments:

Pallaith:

In accordance with the Election Reform Bill, I hereby appoint Crushing Our Enemies, SillyString, Darcania, Eluvatar, Siwale, Syrixia, and Scorch as Election Commissioners, subject to confirmation votes by the Regional Assembly.

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These appointments may be debated in this topic. Once a motion to vote is seconded, a vote may be scheduled.

Confused Citizen:

But, Mr. Deputy Speaker...six out of the seven appointees are already on the Election Commission, and their term does not expire until the 23rd! What is the meaning of this?

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I hear your cry. You see, recently, changes were made to the EC rules to allow existing commissioners to be re-appointed before the end of their term. As long as they are confirmed, and take their new oath of office before the end of their term, they will serve an uninterrupted six months from the date of their new oath. This was an important change because seniority determines who serves as Acting Chief EC when the Chief EC is absent or the position is vacant. Make sense? No? Feel free to discuss that in this thread too.

I would like to ask the Delegate why he has decided to nominate an additional citizen to serve on the Election Commission.

I motion this to a vote.

Siwale:

I would like to ask the Delegate why he has decided to nominate an additional citizen to serve on the Election Commission.

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We can have up to 9, and it seemed to me that we ran into some problems with the 6 we had, either due to their other duties in the region or the timing of their availability. I also believe that the current commission could benefit from building on its existing knowledge, and that it is more constructive to guide all commissioners to doing things a bit differently and more efficiently, even those who may not have performed as well as the others. Just in case we have a similar staffing concern this next EC term compared to the last, I figured it would be good to have one more just to be safe. This also (hopefully) establishes a kind of precedent for bringing in new talent to get accustomed to the role. One day the membership will be staggered and change in the middle of the term, but as that has not happened yet, this is a simple and non-intrusive way to freshen things up a bit.

Having said that, I was pleased with the overall job the commission did and would love to see their work continue, especially since we are still pioneering what this looks like. This is the original commission that will set the standard for the ones to come and I want to make sure they lay a strong foundation. Their vision is inseparable from that, and to execute their vision, they need to be there to do it.

Why did you pick those candidates in particular?

I certainly intend to abstain, and don't currently intend to question my fellow Commissioners nor the nominee for joining our ranks.

However, I would like to call out that I'm happy to answer any relevant questions posed here.

I'll add that regarding the number, I noticed that at times we were strained to get enough non-absent supervisors, and so I asked Pallaith to look for a seventh commissioner a while back.

I second Mall's motion to vote.

Seeing a motion and a second, a confirmation vote is scheduled to begin in three days. I'm adding in a bit of time because the appointments were only made a couple days ago, and there hasn't been much discussion yet. I want to make sure everyone has the opportunity to ask questions of the appointees or debate their appointments.

i think the existing commissioners have ruined tnp's democracy and they should all resign in disgrace.

mcmasterdonia:

Why did you pick those candidates in particular?

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For what it’s worth, I feel my last post covers most of the same ground my answer to this question would cover. These were the most exemplary and experienced people who had served as electoral commissioners prior to the implementation of this new system. I explained my reasoning for adding the seventh and obviously these are re-appointments so, I like what we have and want to see it continue, hence, the names you see here. Their hands-on experience with elections is enhanced by their maturity and their legal and institutional experience as (largely) long-time TNP citizens.

If we need 7 because people were not available, that suggests the previous six were either inactive or running in the elections. As far as I know only a couple of them have ran in elections recently. I've voted accordingly.

Could you explain the basis of your votes a little more?

McM, the law requires that there be at least five non-absent commissioners at all times. We never had a shortage of election supervisors. The only time we needed to appoint a temporary replacement was during the September General Election, when Darcania ran for Attorney General and Siwale ran for Vice Delegate, leaving four non-absent commissioners.

Crushing Our Enemies:

McM, the law requires that there be at least five non-absent commissioners at all times. We never had a shortage of election supervisors. The only time we needed to appoint a temporary replacement was during the September General Election, when Darcania ran for Attorney General and Siwale ran for Vice Delegate, leaving four non-absent commissioners.

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Still, the fact that it has happened before does lend some credibility to Pallaith wanting more commissioners. I, for one, see no problem with adding another.

I do have a concern, though, but I think it would be best said in private, and I will ask Pallaith about it on Discord.

Crushing Our Enemies:

McM, the law requires that there be at least five non-absent commissioners at all times. We never had a shortage of election supervisors. The only time we needed to appoint a temporary replacement was during the September General Election, when Darcania ran for Attorney General and Siwale ran for Vice Delegate, leaving four non-absent commissioners.

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That is crazy. Why on earth would we need five non absent commissioners? Time to reform!

Thanks for letting me know though.

The reason we need five non-absent commissioners is so that there are always enough that if a decision of the supervisors is reviewed by the full commission, the supervisors themselves don't control a majority.