Greetings.
This should fix up some confusion that we had last election cycle. Especially here in two cycles, when we have a leap year and the extra day in February will mess everything up, as it usually does.
Wouldn’t it be simpler to set the start of the election period as the 1st of the month?
Yes, but the intent of the original wording was so that the start of the term is the 1st of the month. I like that more than the election starting on the 1st.
What if we just set elections to the 15th of every month and the start of the term to the 1st of the month after the election?
The term for the Delegate begins when the newly elected individual actually takes the in-game seat, and the term for Chair begins immediately upon conclusion of the election. I don’t much mind changing it so it’ll start on the 15th for all elections and then the PM’s term will start on the first of the month, but it would be a really awkward transition time for the Chair, I think, and unwise to define it for the Delegate.
Honestly, if we can’t set all terms to start at the first of the month, we might as well just set all elections to start at the first of the month?
I agree. Simplicity is best and the first of the month has a nice ring to it that is easy to remember when we’re all in Discord and somebody pops up with the question, ‘weren’t we meant to have an election?’
The only term we can’t set to start at the first is the Delegate. As mentioned above, I like having the terms for PM and Chair start on the first, so it’s a much nicer looking time spent in the actual office.
We could always delay the start of a term till the beginning of the next month.
Though, I am sure there would be absolutely no interest in a lame-duck admin for two weeks.
I move this amendment be brought to a vote.
Is there a reason why we’re not just making elections start on the 15th?
Preserve the start of terms on the 1st of the month, without having to change how long the election itself takes.
PM and Chair elections don’t take two weeks though. They take 8 and 9 days, respectively, and the rest of the month is just the lame-duck period; not to mention that there are already provisions in the law that specify when the term starts.
The amendment sets it so the election for chair begins exactly 8 days prior to the start of their terms, and I think having that lame duck period for PM is crucial for a good turnover of everything and letting the incoming PM have that time to appoint a cabinet and get them approved.
I’m not really sure why it’s so important to have different terms all start on the first day of the month if it’s not important at all to have any similar semblance of consistency with our election dates…
What I mean is that starting all elections on the 15th doesn’t affect in any negative way our ability to start the term on the start of the month.
I agree, I don’t see how this could create any obstacles, besides being easier and more practical for all voters.
I suppose so, I’ll make the change for that.
I will note that, upon further reflection, things could be trickier for Delegate elections due to the two round system and the length of February. We could shorten the election though? For example, the length of the gameside round?
How short do you think it should be? I’m amenable to shortening the round 1 campaign/debate time to 5 days (from 7) as well.