I just had a game where I built the planetary council and didn't realize that I needed to change civics to become a member of the council. After realizing that I needed to change civics, I reloaded a save prior to the council being built and waited until I finished building the council.
By doing this, I was able to come into the vote just late enough to prevent either of the other two candidates from winning the election. Due to the timing of the build of the council, I wasn't able to change civics fast enough to be qualified to be voted in as head of the council.
My suggestion is to either automatically make all players a member of the council as soon as the council is built, make the builder of the council a member immediately upon building, or postpone the election for a few turns after the council is built.
By doing this, I was able to come into the vote just late enough to prevent either of the other two candidates from winning the election. Due to the timing of the build of the council, I wasn't able to change civics fast enough to be qualified to be voted in as head of the council.
My suggestion is to either automatically make all players a member of the council as soon as the council is built, make the builder of the council a member immediately upon building, or postpone the election for a few turns after the council is built.