Citizen's Initiative - The Election Act of 4000 BC

Conducting the affairs of Government in our system requires periodic elections. These elections allow citizen to chose their leaders based on their personalities, views and stated goals.

Terms of office will run from the first of the month to the last day. If the first term starts in the middle of a month, that term will not end until the last day of the subsequent month. No citizen can be elected to the same office in more than two consecutive terms.

Elections will be conducted by the official in charge of Election (called the EO). The EO will create nomination threads for each elected office, plus the Designated Player poll, 7 days prior to the end of the current term. After 3 days, the EO will post voting polls, one for each contested office, listing each candidate that has accepted their nomination in order of acceptance. These polls will be marked private, single-choice, and will be set to expire in 3 days.

Citizens can only accept one nomination for an elected office. If they accept more than one, the EO will try to determine which one is their preference. If the EO cannot, they will assume the most recent acceptance takes precendence. The Designated Player pool is not considered an elected office.

The citizen recieving the most votes at the conclusion of the election poll is deemed the winner of that election. In the event that more than one citizen is tied for the most votes, a runoff election poll, listing all citizen's tied for the most votes, will be conducted. This poll will be marked private, single-choice, and will be set to expire in 2 days. This process will be repeated until one citizen recieves the most votes.

A citizen can withdraw from an election at any time. This is an irreversible choice. When they do so, their name, and number of votes, is ignored for determining the winner of the election and for any runoffs.

The Designated Player poll will list all citizens that accepted their nomination. This poll will be marked private, multiple choice and will be set to expire in three days. All citizens receiving the required support will be considered to be the Designated Player pool for that term.

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NOTES
Information used in the creation of this Initiative taken from this poll (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=195707). All results of that poll have been honored here. In addition, information from previous DG's and personal experience were used.

As usual, my goal is to be clear about the process, and reduce ambiguities where possible. You'll note that I reference an "Election Official" here. The poll above indicated that we wanted an elected person to conduct elections. This should not be interpreted as creating an office - rather, creating a duty. This duty can be assigned to any elected official, and thus reassigned as needed. I suggest that future initiative that create a duty (something for someone to do) do likewise. This makes it easier to reassign tasks. The required support for a DP is referenced in the DP initiative, not here.

For the first term, we can either elect the EO or appoint someone to run the election via initiative. I would suggest the latter, just to speed things up.

-- Ravensfire

For the first term, we can either elect the EO or appoint someone to run the election via initiative. I would suggest the latter, just to speed things up.

-- Ravensfire

i agree, speeding things up a little shouldn't do any harm

i agree, speeding things up a little shouldn't do any harm
Actually, that might need to be clarified. That should read "For the first term elections".

-- Ravensfire

Pretty precise about everything here. As far as my approval goes, it has earned it.

The only problem I see is that it the term runs "from the first of the month to the last day." If any of the parliamentary layouts I proposed are passed (and I feel that the nonpartisan, unicameral one is quite strong, as it deviates from the traditions only in a few areas), new elections could theoretically happen at any time. I propose that the initiative be amended so that terms run for up to 30 days, which is essentially a month, except for elections of the Cabinet, which could theoretically run for whatever amount of time (hopefully we won't have any governments that bad).

Tell ya what - I'll hold off posting this until we get the offices nailed down. Based on that, changes will be made and posted.

If you're the only one putting out ideas and pushing a concept, put up a full proposed poll (similar to this), and wait for a day or two for comments. If there are other proponents that also put out full proposals, we can poll the various options, and see what people like. Either way, we need to get the detailed proposals done soon so we can choose among them. Assume that I'll have a minimalist government proposal up later tonight.

Right now, the lack of government structure (save for the Judiciary, specified in the Constitution) is our biggest holding point. That must get done soon.

-- Ravensfire

I propose that the initiative be amended so that terms run for up to 30 days, which is essentially a month

I disagree. By doing it every 30 days you'll just add confusion to an already chaotic game. By stating its the 1st of the month citizens tend to remember when a term starts/ends. Doing it every 30 days will bring the confusion of when the term starts/ends and the questions that go with. Leave it the way it is. There's no reason to confuse things any more than they already will be.

The only problem I see is that it the term runs "from the first of the month to the last day." If any of the parliamentary layouts I proposed are passed (and I feel that the nonpartisan, unicameral one is quite strong, as it deviates from the traditions only in a few areas), new elections could theoretically happen at any time. I propose that the initiative be amended so that terms run for up to 30 days, which is essentially a month, except for elections of the Cabinet, which could theoretically run for whatever amount of time (hopefully we won't have any governments that bad).

The Constitution, as ratified, requires terms with a predetermined ending.

Article D - Elections
Terms of service of all elected and appointed offices shall be determined in advance of the beginning of such term, as further defined by law.

Terms of office will run from the first of the month to the last day.

This should be changed to:

Terms of office will run from the first of the month to the last day of the same month.

agreed donsig

No citizen can be elected to the same office in more than two consecutive terms.

How come? If someone's doing a good job, why should they have to step down, just because they've been doing a good job for a long time?

How come? If someone's doing a good job, why should they have to step down, just because they've been doing a good job for a long time?

Guess it lets everyone a chance, and it's exactly the same with real life government.

How come? If someone's doing a good job, why should they have to step down, just because they've been doing a good job for a long time?
Hit the link referenced in the main post.

-- Ravensfire

well i thought one month was long enough.. i wouldnt like to see someone in power for 50 days because of a technicality

What about the end of the next month if there are fewer than 14 days remaining in the month as of when the game starts, otherwise the end of the start month?

That way if we kick off elections on or before Feb 20 we get slightly more than a month, between Feb 21 and March 7 we get less than a month.

(elections Feb 20th = start on March 1st -- if we need a table, one can be generated)

Keep it as one month, and if someone takes office in the middle of the term, we don't count it if their time in office is less than 15 days and we do count it if they are in office more than 15 days. Basically, the same as the US presidents being able to hold the office for 2.5 terms.

good ideas.. i agree

If a lot of active citizens/players these rules are good; if just few, these rules

are bad.

Best regards,

Citizen's Initiative - The Election Act of 4000 BC

Conducting the affairs of Government in our system requires periodic elections. These elections allow citizen to chose their leaders based on their personalities, views and stated goals.

Terms of office will run from the first of the month to the last day of the same month. If the first term starts in the middle of a month, that term will not end until the last day of the subsequent month. No citizen can be elected to the same office in more than two consecutive terms.

Elections will be conducted by the official in charge of Election (called the EO). The EO will create nomination threads for each elected office, plus the Designated Player poll, 7 days prior to the end of the current term. After 3 days, the EO will post voting polls, one for each contested office, listing each candidate that has accepted their nomination in order of acceptance. These polls will be marked private, single-choice, and will be set to expire in 3 days.

Nominations may be made by any citizen, for any citizen (including self-nominations) by posting in the Nomination thread for the office. Nominations may also be made via PM or posting an Election Office thread prior to the start of the election cycle if the citizen will be unavailable at that time. Citizens can only accept one nomination for an elected office. Nominations may be accepted by a post by the citizen in the nomination thread or by notifying the EO via PM or post in an Election Office thread. If they accept more than one nomination, the EO will try to determine which one is their preference. If the EO cannot, they will assume the most recent acceptance takes precendence. The Designated Player pool is not considered an elected office.

The citizen recieving the most votes at the conclusion of the election poll is deemed the winner of that election. In the event that more than one citizen is tied for the most votes, a runoff election poll, listing all citizen's tied for the most votes, will be conducted. This poll will be marked private, single-choice, and will be set to expire in 2 days. This process will be repeated until one citizen recieves the most votes. The election cycle will conclude at the end of the final election poll.

A citizen can withdraw from an election at any time. This is an irreversible choice. When they do so, their name, and number of votes, is ignored for determining the winner of the election and for any runoffs.

The Designated Player poll will list all citizens that accepted their nomination. This poll will be marked private, multiple choice and will be set to expire in three days. All citizens receiving the required support will be considered to be the Designated Player pool for that term.

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Changelog

v.0

Initial Postv.1

Clarified length of term
Clarified nomination process
Spelled out end of election cycle-------------
NOTES
Does NOT conform with Parliamentary Government. If we choose that as our form of Government, we'll need to revamp this. I quite honestly am not sure of how certain things work within that government form, so I don't feel comfortable crafting the initiative.

-- Ravensfire

I don't know if people get this picky, but would a term end at midnight of the last day of the month in some particular time zone? You could have a lame duck making one last surge or something. ;-)

I don't know if people get this picky, but would a term end at midnight of the last day of the month in some particular time zone? You could have a lame duck making one last surge or something. ;-)

It's good to have set a standard for it, I don't think it's picky at all. Why not stick to GMT?


Terms of office run from 0:00 hours (GMT) of the first day of the month to 24:00 (GMT) of the last day of the same month.

Then there's the point of a term starting at any other time than halfway in a month. This could happen as a result of several (real life) reasons. Currently the rules don't anticipate this. Isn't it better to consider something like this:


Terms of office started before or on the 15th day of a month, will end at 24:00 (GMT) of the last day of the same month. Terms of office started after the 15th day of a month, will end at 24:00 (GMT) of the last day of the next month.

All with all it's quite a lump of text to read, wouldn't it be a reading-enhancement to use bullet lists?

Terms of office started before or on the 15th day of a month, will end at 24:00 (GMT) of the last day of the same month. Terms of office started after the 15th day of a month, will end at 24:00 (GMT) of the last day of the next month.

I disagree with this. Rather than make it next month keep it the same month. If they take office after the 15th, than that is not counted towards the two term limit. Granted, I don't believe we have yet decided on whether we are or are not using term limits.

I disagree with this. Rather than make it next month keep it the same month. If they take office after the 15th, than that is not counted towards the two term limit.Parse the sentance on the term limits carefully. It's actually quite flexible.
Granted, I don't believe we have yet decided on whether we are or are not using term limits. Yes, yes we have. Click on the link in the OP.

@Hyronymus: Yup - should be a GMT reference in there. Noted for next version.

What situations would cause a term (other than the first) to start in the middle of the month other than extraordinary situations? Should that happen, that's actually pretty simple to fix. Just pass an initiative that handles the situation (Due to XYZ, Term 3 will start on April 15th and run until May 31st). Situations like that do not need to be in this initiative.

I'm working on a nicely formatted summary version of all the rules we've passed. It's intended to work in conjunction with the "official" thread. Putting this into a bulleted list probably wouldn't help much with the readability as there is a lot there. Lists like that lose their usefulness past 4 or 5 entries.

-- Ravensfire

@Methos: I was just re-writing what was said before, I didn't add anything except explicit time measures (honestly :D!).

@Ravensfire: if someone cannot fulfill a term entirely isn't it an idea to let the remaining people in charge cover up?

@Ravensfire: if someone cannot fulfill a term entirely isn't it an idea to let the remaining people in charge cover up?Why not allow another citizen the chance to fill in for the rest of that term? True, the remaining officials probably could fill in, but if you've got someone else interested, why not give them a shot?

It's one way that a new citizen can get some "face time" in the DG.

-- Ravensfire

Because with only 8 days left noone might be willing for example. But I guess the proper order is to try to get someone first and keep my suggestion as a safety net.

Because with only 8 days left noone might be willing for example.

Generally, there will be someone willing to do it. And else, the president/other officials can do it anyway. It's important to give people the chance to step in though.

Generally, there will be someone willing to do it. And else, the president/other officials can do it anyway. It's important to give people the chance to step in though.

I do very much agree with this... It's always a good idea to let people prove themselves capable... Good for them and good for us as a whole... As we would gain another leader of note...

Also, given the short amount of time left in the term, people who were, perhaps, less confident might be more willing to step up, and people will be more willing to vote for relative non-entities- figuring they'll only be in for a short while.. So if they're not so great it'll be3 ok... Or some such

Version .2
Citizen's Initiative - The Election Act of 4000 BC

Section 1 - Elections
Conducting the affairs of Government in our system requires periodic elections. These elections allow citizen to chose their leaders based on their personalities, views and stated goals.

Terms of office will run from the first of the month to the last day of the same month, using GMT time. If the first term starts in the middle of a month, that term will not end until the last day of the subsequent month. No citizen can be elected to the same office in more than two consecutive terms.

Elections will be conducted by the official in charge of Election (called the EO). The EO will create nomination threads for each elected office, plus the Designated Player poll, 7 days prior to the end of the current term. After 3 days, the EO will post voting polls, one for each contested office, listing each candidate that has accepted their nomination in order of acceptance. These polls will be marked private, single-choice, and will be set to expire in 3 days.

Section 2 - Nomination
Nominations may be made by any citizen, for any citizen (including self-nominations) by posting in the Nomination thread for the office. Nominations may also be made via PM or posting an Election Office thread prior to the start of the election cycle if the citizen will be unavailable at that time. Citizens can only accept one nomination for an elected office. Nominations may be accepted by a post by the citizen in the nomination thread or by notifying the EO via PM or post in an Election Office thread. If they accept more than one nomination, the EO will try to determine which one is their preference. If the EO cannot, they will assume the most recent acceptance takes precendence.

Section 3 - Resolution
The citizen recieving the most votes at the conclusion of the election poll is deemed the winner of that election. In the event that more than one citizen is tied for the most votes, a runoff election poll, listing all citizen's tied for the most votes, will be conducted. This poll will be marked private, single-choice, and will be set to expire in 2 days. This process will be repeated until one citizen recieves the most votes. The election cycle will conclude at the end of the final election poll.

A citizen can withdraw from an election at any time. This is an irreversible choice. When they do so, their name, and number of votes, is ignored for determining the winner of the election and for any runoffs.

Section 4 - Designated Player
The Designated Player poll will list all citizens that accepted their nomination. This poll will be marked private, multiple choice and will be set to expire in three days. All citizens receiving the required support will be considered to be the Designated Player pool for that term. The Designated Player pool is not considered an elected office.


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Changelog

v.0

Initial Postv.1

Clarified length of term
Clarified nomination process
Spelled out end of election cyclev.2

Reformatted
Moved clause about DP not counting as an office to DP section
Add GMT referenceSTATUS: Proposed Poll

This is the proposed poll for the election act. As the recent discussion has mostly been about appointments and vacant offices (which don't belong here), I plan on posting the poll for this initiative this evening or tomorrow - 4 day duration poll.

Appointments/vacancies are being put into main Tribal Government act.

-- Ravensfire

Good work. This is ready to poll IMO.

Yes, very good, I agree.

Best regards,

The poll is up!

Link to poll (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=207891)

Thanks for the help on this!

-- Ravensfire

If the first term starts in the middle of a month, that term will not end until the last day of the subsequent month.

I believe I understand the above correctly, but I'd like to have it clarified. This statement only affects the 1st term, correct?

The EO will create nomination threads for each elected office, plus the Designated Player poll,

Should the underlined statement be "the Designated Player nomination thread", instead of poll?

The Designated Player poll will list all citizens that accepted their nomination. This poll will be marked private, multiple choice and will be set to expire in three days. All citizens receiving the required support will be considered to be the Designated Player pool for that term. The Designated Player pool is not considered an elected office.

I see no mention of what constitutes the "required support". Is this posted somewhere else?

The EO will create nomination threads for each elected office, plus the Designated Player poll,

I think it should be for each elected office, plus the Designated Player pool.
So the nomination thread for each elected office and the nomination thread for the Designated Player pool.

I believe I understand the above correctly, but I'd like to have it clarified. This statement only affects the 1st term, correct? Yup!
Should the underlined statement be "the Designated Player nomination thread", instead of poll? Yup! Probably should get an amendment initiative through on this. Hold off a bit, in case other such "tweaks" are found.
I see no mention of what constitutes the "required support". Is this posted somewhere else?Yup!
(What do you mean, I can't just answer Yup on this one? Oh, fine!)
The "required support" is in the Playing the Save act. I put it in there, so that just about everything related to the DP Pool is there. The election act only covers that nominations and polls should be posted.

-- Ravensfire

Yup! Probably should get an amendment initiative through on this. Hold off a bit, in case other such "tweaks" are found.

I'm wondering if when it is changed, we should use dutchfire's suggestion of "pool" instead. :hmm:

The "required support" is in the Playing the Save act. I put it in there, so that just about everything related to the DP Pool is there. The election act only covers that nominations and polls should be posted.

:lol: Yeah, it would be the obvious! :D