Why elections need a run up period

[Babylon System is the Vampire]

I brought this up in the thread about election integrity, but as I recall it got buried in a sea of "elections are too long already" comments and it wasn't really a good avenue to explain what I mean. And it does need some explanation, because it's tricky to see at first, since an election where there is an existing government and a challenger to that regime the run up doesn't matter. But that's not the only type of triggered election.

There is also a legacy election, which generally amounts to a reshuffling of what already exists. And this is where trigging an election can be a huge advantage, because you don't actually have someone ready to run against you. Sprinkle in some properly picked timing (essentially when no one is on in the wee hours of the US time zone) and all of a sudden you have a day head start of everyone who's a citizen getting the message "it's time to vote." And that's assuming that anyone willing to contest the election can get an opposition in a day, which is...daunting to say the least. Add to that the fact that the vast majority of votes are cast in the first day of an election, and yeah...

Now, I'm not trying to hate on anyone who has done this, past or present. To me it's the same thing as some of the wonky things people do in pvp that weren't the intended use. If the game lets you do something, have at it. But this is also probably as big of an advantage if not bigger as overloading the votes with random characters who don't play regularly in the settlement, and bonus, it has an easy fix.

When an election starts, there is a two-day period of no voting to give challengers a chance to throw their hat in the ring.

[Rubricae]

When an election starts, there is a two-day period of no voting to give challengers a chance to throw their hat in the ring.

You know, that's not really a bad idea. If something like this were to be considered it would be worth extending the election by the same amount of time. To make sure people with busy bee lives are still able to vote without losing out on days.

[Xerah]

It works that way in politics as well (At least in Canada). The people in charge decide when to call one. It is all part of politics.

If someone does have aspirational aims at winning an election, they should start preparing right away and be ready for it. If they're not? Then they have another month to get ready for it.

At any rate, I don't think it is a big deal nor do we need to drag it out any longer, because... elections are too long already. Maybe 6-12h if anything, but most people aren't rushing to vote instantly either. If the server is empty when they call the election, the server is empty for people to vote. It doesn't seem like a huge advantage that is worth spending time to 'fix'.

[Aeryeris]

A run-up period would be extremely beneficial and likely improve the actual political roleplay a lot. Currently the surprise election system is extremely abuseable, and is actually quite stressful to deal with for sitting settlement leaders. OOC timing really does matter, people vote on the first day, candidates need time to actually prepare a coherent and solid platform before they can be considered a viable option.

I'd say 2 IRL days is actually a pretty good lenght too, given all the above. It allows for candidate debates to matter, coalition building etc. All that good stuff. Please do this!

Maybe make the actual voting period a bit shorter though. 4 days and 16 hours is too long even now. With a 2 day run-up period, maybe just make the remaining 2 days 16 hours the 'votable' period or something.

[Babylon System is the Vampire]

It works that way in politics as well (At least in Canada). The people in charge decide when to call one. It is all part of politics.

If someone does have aspirational aims at winning an election, they should start preparing right away and be ready for it. If they're not? Then they have another month to get ready for it.

At any rate, I don't think it is a big deal nor do we need to drag it out any longer, because... elections are too long already. Maybe 6-12h if anything, but most people aren't rushing to vote instantly either. If the server is empty when they call the election, the server is empty for people to vote. It doesn't seem like a huge advantage that is worth spending time to 'fix'.

I'm fairly certain that the voting doesn't start the day the Canadian government calls one, even though I know nothing about Canadian politics save that your prime minister is a swanky dresser.

And I agree, people should be prepared, but if you aren't at least considering it and working toward that goal two days is not going to be enough time anyways. On the flip side, if you have been having conversations and are almost ready, if the other side catches wind and launches an election it's definitely advantage them with how it is now. Maybe you have access to how many people vote on the first day as opposed to the second or third, I know I don't, but I also know I would be floored if less than 66% of the votes weren't cast day one.

As for elections being too long, if I had my magic wand, it would be two days run up one day voting. But that's never going to happen.

Anyways, I just want to double down on my point that this isn't personal to anyone. But this is an old trick to get an advantage in an election that predates my time here, and I've seen it used to great efficiency multiple times across different settlements. And like most of the gamey things of Areliths past I think it's time to put this one out to pasture.

[Rei_Jin]

I’m not involved in politics on Arelith anonymous, heck, I rolled and moved on with life.

But I do miss y’all so I check in here to see what’s happening, and this (and the book thing!) caught my attention.

In my opinion, the way to “address” the election system is:

1. Staff confirm the 48 hour period which sees, on averages, the highest number of unique log-ins (which is probably the US weekend, from 00:01 Saturday morning to 23:59 Sunday night, US PST, as that incorporates the Euro Saturday morning play through to the US Sunday night play).
2. Votes may ONLY be cast during this time, this is known as the “voting” period.
3. An election may be triggered at any time, with all eligible settlement “electors” and “officials” receiving notification on log in that such has been triggered, and the incumbent settlement leader automatically entered into the election unless they were assassinated or removed by the DMs or the settlement system due to settlement bankruptcy.
4. This “campaigning” period must be a period no less than 24 hours, meaning that if one wants a LONG campaigning period they would trigger an election an hour before the voting period would begin, meaning that it would functionally run for a full week, and if they want a short campaigning period they would trigger an election 25 hours before the voting period would begin.
5. Thus, an incumbent might prefer a short election period, where a challenger might prefer a long election period, and politics can ensue. Or maybe the challenger wants a short campaigning period, to try to get as few competitors as possible, who knows?
6. If a candidate is assassinated during the campaigning period they are removed from the ballot
7. If a candidate is assassinated during the voting period, another member of the faction they entered the election with, with the specific “vice-leader” (hurr hurr) setting in the faction system (which would need to be added and would provide the same functionality as the faction owner EXCEPT that they cannot remove the faction owner, nor dissolve the faction, but on the deletion of the faction owner they become the new faction owner; yes, only one character can be the vice-leader) becomes the candidate in their place.

This system allows for folk to discuss election plans before the election cycle begins, and creates opportunities for espionage and skullduggery in numerous ways.

This system also allows for the maximum number of unique player log-ins, on average, to be able to vote, without having to be constantly alert for what might be happening.

Yes, we could end up with a week long campaigning period, but we could also end up with one that is only a day long.

By entering the incumbent settlement leader automatically into the election, they cannot be removed without notice just because someone decided to try and do a sneaky while they’re on a RL holiday, meaning that it’s only IC actions and inactions that really matter here, not actions taken for OOC issues. Yes, if they’re on a RL holiday they won’t be campaigning themselves, but their allies can campaign on their behalf, and if they are an effective leader then unless their opponent(s) are particularly skilled operators, the good will they have developed within their settlement will count for much.

And, by having a vice-leader who is there to step up, we create opportunities (especially in Andunor) for folks to use another person to try to win the vote, then assassinate them whilst voting is ongoing to take their place (a very drow thing, isn’t it?), or for an election to still go to a good group even if their leader is cruelly taken out.