Elections

[FortyJ]

I don't know what's happening with this, but I think we might want to get this ball rolling soon. Besides, there's nothing wrong with holding elections a little early to allow for run-offs, etc....

Here's the summary of Nominations (as best as I can tell):

[u][b]Position				Nominees	Status[/b][/u]

President				Goonie		Decline
					CivGeneral	
					FortyJ		Accept
					Octavian X	Accept
					Amirsan		Accept

Domestic Minister			Stuck As a Mac	
					Octavian X	Accept

Trade Minister				Noldodan	Accept
					Octavian X	

Military Minister			CivGeneral	Accept

Foreign Affairs Minister		Goonie		Accept
					Zarn		

Culture Minister			Plexus		Accept

Science Minister			Strider		

Chief Justice				Vander		Accept
					Grandmaster	
					Veera

Public Defender				Falcon02

Judge Advocate

Governor of Capitol Province		Gingerbread Man	Accept
					Killer A's	Accept
					Hygro		Accept

Ambassador to Gamecatcher		FortyJ		Decline
					Octavian X	Accept
	
Ambassador to Creative Design Group	Croxis		Accept

For purposes of this summary, self-nominations are considered as "Accept".

When shall we actually begin the elections? And how long should they run for? As I said earlier, there should be nothing wrong with having them end a few turns before the 45th turn to allow for the possibility of run-off elections and such.

 

[FortyJ]

I propose that we open the Elections after the posting of Turn 39 and let them run for a period of 96 hours (ie 4 days). Of course, this will likely create a "lame-duck" period between the end of elections and the actual change of power (if any), but this could be most beneficial and allow for a much smoother transition of power.

Quite frankly, I always thought that the election process in DG2 should have ended about 2 days before the end of each month to allow the new leaders some time to prepare their threads. As it was, most official threads were slapped together quickly and, as a result, often lacked functional benefits.

 

[Octavian X]

Thisn is an election schedule that was agreed upon earlier.

Term #  start     election    end
  1     4000 BC    1830 BC  1650 BC
  2     1625 BC     510 BC   390 BC
  3      370 BC     410 AD   470 AD
  4      480 AD     950 AD  1010 AD
  5     1020 AD    1370 AD  1400 AD
  6     1405 AD    1640 AD  1670 AD
  7     1675 AD    1814 AD  1826 AD
  8     1828 AD    1922 AD  1934 AD
  9     1936 AD    1990 AD  1996 AD
 10     1997 AD      n/a    2050 AD

 

[FortyJ]

That's certainly helpful... I guess that's what I get for missing staff meetings.

However, I still think we should consider setting a time limit to the elections (rather than a turn limit - which is beyond our ability to control).

 

[Octavian X]

Acutually, I think this system would give new leaders the time you wanted to organize before a term begins. We begin elections on the turn listed, keep polls open, say, two days. Let the current government play till the last turn (1650 B.C.), and let the new one take over for the next.

 

[FortyJ]

Precisely my point... Just because the elections close before the change of power, doesn't mean the sitting officials don't get to finish their term.

I'd keep the elections open at least 72 hours though (preferably 96). That way we won't have a problem with weekends or holidays, etc.

 

[Killer A's]

What about governor of the capital province?

 

[FortyJ]

Originally posted by Killer A's
What about governor of the capital province?

I've added it to the list. I've also updated the nominations to bring them current as of now.

If there are any errors, please say so.

 

[FortyJ]

I've discovered a little problem here that maybe somebody can help clear up.

I was working on my demogame chat scripts (so that they can be used for both the MSDG and for DG3) and discovered that our turn numbers are off by 1. We should be on Turn 39. (see below)

Also, according to the election schedule posted above by Octavian, it seems that the terms are not 45 turns in length, but rather closer to 54! Which begs the question: which is it?

EDIT: actually, upon extending my table out further, it looks like the dates above are more confused than I originally thought. We really need to determine exactly how long each term should last.

Personally, I think 54 turns seems rather long, especially at less than 1 turn a day. At 45 turns, we're looking at term lengths lasting the better part of 2 months. At 54 turns, they will likely run well into the 3rd month!

This seems unnecessary. Especially since there's not much changing from one turn chat to the next in PBEM format. While I might be in favor of longer terms in DG3, in the MSDG, I'm leaning more towards having shorter terms in order to sustain the level of involvement and activity in the forum. Otherwise, I'm concerned that this game will quickly devolve from a true intersite democracy game into a small group PBEM game.

[b]Turn	Year[/b]
 1	4000 BC
 2	3950 BC
 3	3900 BC
 4	3850 BC
 5	3800 BC
 6	3750 BC
 7	3700 BC
 8	3650 BC
 9	3600 BC
10	3550 BC
12	3450 BC
13	3400 BC
14	3350 BC
15	3300 BC

16	3250 BC
17	3200 BC
18	3150 BC
19	3100 BC
20	3050 BC
21	3000 BC
22	2950 BC
23	2900 BC
24	2850 BC
25	2800 BC
26	2750 BC
27	2710 BC
28	2670 BC
29	2630 BC
30	2590 BC

31	2550 BC
32	2510 BC
33	2470 BC
34	2430 BC
35	2390 BC
36	2350 BC
37	2310 BC
38	2270 BC
39	2230 BC
40	2190 BC
41	2150 BC
42	2110 BC
43	2070 BC
44	2030 BC
45	1990 BC

46	1950 BC
47	1910 BC
48	1870 BC
49	1830 BC
50	1790 BC
51	1750 BC
52	1725 BC
53	1700 BC
54	1875 BC

 

[Goonie]

I say we go by Turn numbers. That was Donsig's original idea. At turn 40 I will post the Elections, and at turn 45 or 96 hours(Whichever comes first), they will close.

 

[Cheetah]

4000 BC was spoken of as Turn 0 ...

 

[FortyJ]

Originally posted by Cheetah
4000 BC was spoken of as Turn 0 ...

Well, it shouldn't have been.

Turn 0 is used primarily in the Demogame turn chats because it represents the pre-turn changes put into effect by the Designated Player.

In actual game turns, however, 4000BC is the first turn of the game and should be counted as turn 1.

 

[Goonie]

Almost forgot! I set the elections to be open for 4 days!