Polcompball Chronicles

Link to the original PDF: File:PCB Elections Act.pdf

Polcompball Elections Act (2024)

Recent version: September 4th 2024, published by iamseamonkey, redacted by DualPlay

This Act shall come into effect upon being passed by a majority of the moderation team.

1) Elections

There shall be regular elections for the Moderators and Administrators of the Polcompball Wiki discord server.
The first election after the commencement of this Act shall be considered an even numbered election.
Admin elections shall be held three days following every odd numbered Moderator Election.
Even numbered elections shall have fifteen (15) Moderator positions open for election.
Odd numbered elections shall have twenty-one (21) Moderator positions open for election.
There shall be a Head Moderator, and a Head Admin.

The Head Moderator shall be whoever can command the confidence of a majority of elected Moderators.
Only elected moderators who hold no other official position may be eligible for head moderator.
Only elected staff members are permitted to vote in Head Moderator confidence votes.
Confidence votes for the head moderator shall last 24 hours. A Head Moderator confidence vote may be called at any time outside of an election period.
A Head Moderator confidence vote must occur after within three (3) days of the conclusion of a moderator election.

Incumbent Moderators are required to recontest their positions at all moderator elections.
Incumbent Admins are required to recontest their moderator positions on every odd numbered election.
Moderator elections must be held on the first Friday on or after 12 weeks, or 84 days, following the conclusion of the most recent Moderator elections.

2) Election Organising

There shall be an Election Organizer:

The Election Organizer shall be appointed at the discretion of the Head Owner, and may be dismissed at any time other than an election period.
The Election Organizer shall be responsible for all duties involved in carrying out elections, including:

Creating forms for candidate and party nominations
Creating election ballots
Registering political parties
Communicating election-related information to the public
Hosting campaign activities and events
Providing election resources upon request
Resolving disputes between candidates
Counting votes
Declaring the results
Effectuating the results by promoting and demoting staff

The Election Organizer may appoint Election Workers to assist with any of their duties.
In the event that there is serious disagreement as to the proper interpretation of this Act that must be resolved urgently, the Election Organizer may decree an emergency procedure to follow as a once off event.

In the event this power is used, the issue or ambiguity which caused it to be used must be resolved via an amendment to the Act within seven (7) days of the invocation of this special power.

The voting period shall commence on voting day at a time determined by the Election Organizer, and shall last 48 hours.
The election period shall commence ten days prior to voting day

Voters must provide their username in order for their vote to be counted.

A nomination period lasting three days
A campaign period lasting seven days

Voters must provide their username in order for their vote to be count

The Election Organizer shall not share this information with anybody, including the Head Owner.
Voters participating in Moderator elections must additionally react to a Discord announcement message in order for their vote to be counted.

3) Political Parties

Server members may establish political parties

Members wishing to establish a political party must demonstrate to the Election Organizer that they satisfy the following criteria:

The party must demonstrate it has a minimum of three (3) members that aren't marked and are able to vote
The party must choose a name which is compliant with the Discord Terms of Service and Polcompball Discord server rules.
The party must give a brief description of its beliefs and/or policies which are compliant with the Discord Terms of Service and Polcompball Discord server rules.
The party must apply for registration prior to the commencement of the election period.

During the Nomination Period defined by section, parties wishing to contest the election must provide a list of candidates to the Election Organizer.

Candidates on the party list must be in a clear ranked order
The list cannot exceed the number of seats available
The list by submitted prior to the campaign period
Parties that fail to meet the above requirements will not be permitted to contest the election.

The Election Organiser shall be prohibited from joining or creating a political party.
Parties found to be in breach of any part of the election act shall face punishment:

In the instance of an infraction, the party shall be warned of the infraction by the Election Organizer or an Election Worker and be given a set period of time in the range of 1 day to 1 week to make appropriate adjustments.
If the party fails to make appropriate adjustments in the given time, the party may be dissolved by the Election Organizer.

4) Moderator Elections

Voting for moderator elections shall be eligible only to those who meet all of the following criteria:

Is a member of the Polcompball discord server;
Joined the Polcompball discord server prior to the commencement of the election period;
Has an account that is more than 3 months old at the time of voting;
Has sent at least 10 messages on the Polcompball discord server;
Is not an alt-account;
Is not a marked user; and
Is over 16 years of age.

Users intending to stand as an independent in an election must meet the following criteria:

Is an eligible voter
Is not a member of a political party
Is not on the candidate list of a political party
Does not have two strikes

The Ballot will have a list of parties running in the election, and a list of independents running in the election.
Voters may select one (1) option on their ballot paper

If a voter selects more than one option, or otherwise makes their voting intention unclear, then their vote may be declared invalid.

Campaigning is only permitted in the designated campaign channel of the Discord server, or in the designated party announcement channels

Candidates or parties found to be in violation of this shall be subject to punishment by the Election Organiser or by the Head Owner. A warning on the first offence, and disqualification on the second.

Once the voting period has concluded and all votes are counted, Seats will be calculated according to the D’Hondt method (link for explanation).

For the purposes of this Act, the total number of votes to all parties/candidates at the commencement of seat distribution shall be called the ‘original tally’. While vote counts after seat allocations shall be referred to as the ‘current tally’.
A seat is assigned to the party with the greatest number of votes according to the current tally:

The individual to occupy this seat shall correspond to the highest ranked individual on that party’s candidate list who has not already been assigned a seat.
If no unassigned candidates remain on that party’s candidate list, then the party shall be removed from the count.

The party most recently assigned a seat shall have its current tally updated to reflect its original tally divided by one greater than the number of seats it has so far been assigned.
Subsections b. and c. shall be repeated until all seats have been assigned
Independents shall be treated altogether as if they are a party:

The total sum of all votes gained by independent candidates shall be considered the original tally of the ‘independent party’;
The ‘candidate list’ for the independents shall be ranked in the order corresponding to the number of votes the independents received, with the independent with the greatest number of votes being ranked number one on the candidate list and so on.

In the event any part of this process results in a tie, a randomiser shall be used as a tiebreaker.

Moderators are required to take an oath of office or sign an equivalent agreement upon their election.
If a moderator does not believe they will be able to commit to their role for the duration of their term, they may refuse to take office.

This shall be considered a casual vacancy and will be handled according to the relevant sections of this act.
If the person refusing to take office is a member of a political party, and said party expresses concern at the person’s decision, then following procedure shall be carried out

An Owner shall listen to the party’s concerns and determine if they have merit.
One of more admins shall be assigned to negotiate a transition agreement with the party.
The vacant position shall be filled according to the terms of the agreement.

If such an agreement is not reached within a week a by-election is triggered

5) Admin Elections

There shall be six (6) Admins.
Only elected moderators are able to run for Admin position.
Voting eligibility for admin elections shall be open only to Moderators and Server Pets.
The ballot shall list every candidate running for Admin.

Voters must rank candidates in order of preference (1st preference, 2nd preference, etc.).
Voters must not give the same preference ranking to multiple candidates.

Admin seats shall be allocated according to preferential voting:

Once all first preference votes are counted, whichever candidate has the greatest number of votes is awarded an admin position.

The winner of the first round of admin elections also becomes Head Admin.

The winning candidate is excluded from the race alongside all their votes are transferred according to the next preference.
Whichever candidate now has the most votes is also awarded an Admin position
This cycle of preference redistribution shall repeat until all positions are filled.
In the event of a tie, the candidate with the fewest number of votes is eliminated and their preferences are distributed.

This process continues until the tie is broken.

Once a vote has exhausted all of its preference, it is no longer considered in subsequent rounds of voting.

6) Casual Vacancies

If a Moderator position becomes vacant during the election period, the position will remain vacant until the conclusion of election season.
If a Moderator position held by an independent becomes vacant at any point in between election seasons, a by-election shall commence within 14 days of the position becomingvacant:

The by-election ballot shall consist of a list of all parties wishing to contest the by-election and all independent candidates wishing to contest the by-election.
A party wishing to contest a by-election must nominate a candidate in order to compete.
Once the voting period begins, no party/candidate is permitted to withdraw from the race
Voters participating in a by election shall include all who satisfy the criteria specified under section 16.
By-elections are not required to follow the conditions specified under section 13.

If a moderator position held by a member of a political party becomes vacant at any pointbetween election seasons, that user’s party shall choose the replacement.
In the case that a second or third vacancy opens up before a by-election can be held, such vacancies will be occupied by the second and third place party/candidates respectively upon the conclusion of a by-election
If the number of simultaneous vacant positions reaches four or greater, a snap odd-numbered moderator election is triggered.