Rescheduling Inauguaral Ball

[Rose Springvale]

Since we don't actually inaugurate this week, and we don't know who all the new RA members will be, the Inaugural ball is postponed. No new date has been selected as yet.

Sorry for any confusion; sometimes trying to plan ahead just doesn't work.

Rose

[Claude Desmoulins]

Keep in mind that we can't seat the new RA, per the constitution, until February 1. It's up to them to determine when after that date they will meet.

[Patroklus Murakami]

I need to check with the newly elected RA when they want to meet. A quick check showed that the current time, Sundays at noon SL time, worked well. I hope we won't have to change this as finding a time when everyone can meet across multiple time zones is usually a bear of a job. But, as Rose points out, we don't yet know who all the members are so the planning could be thrown out. I'd like to encourage NuCARE and the Simplicity Party to select their second candidate quickly and communicate an email address to me the representative can be contacted on.

[Bromo Ivory]

Actually, given the rules for the election - I think the SC needs to rule on how those second seats are to be allocated - since our system NOW allows non party members to rank party candidates . . . or am I all wet?

[Patroklus Murakami]

Bromo

Claude has drawn attention to the issue you raise in the election results thread here. He has usefully quoted the relevant parts of the Constitution which I'll cut and paste here for convenience:

Based on the ranking form the general election, the faction members to be elected to the RA will selected based on the descending order of the number of points received based on the Borda-count of the rankings. The members will be selected until all available seats for the party are filled. If a member retires from the RA, a member with the next highest ranking in the same faction is takes a seat on the RA.

In the event that a faction, via resignation or impeachment, exhausts its list of eligible RA members drawn up at the previous general election during the course of an RA term:

1) If the faction no longer meets the constitutional requirements or if no members of the faction are willing to serve, there shall be a special election to fill, for the remainder of the term, the seats left vacant.

2) If the faction the list of which is exhausted still meets constitutional requirements as spelled out in Article V and there are members of that faction, who did not stand in the previous general election, willing to fill the vacated seats, members of the affected faction shall rank those candidates to fill the vacated seats as they do in the general election.

Each faction controls their seats and may replace members or fill seats due to vacancies as they see fit.

The SP, as I understand it, have called for volunteers and, should there be more than one, they will rank them internally to choose their representative to fill the vacant seat. That would seem to fit the spirit of the Constitution as it involves an internal ranking exercise but, as the second quote makes clear, factions have a fair degree of leeway in deciding how to fill vacant seats. We have evolved in this direction because, in previous RA sessions we risked 'running out' of RA members due to resignations and permanent lack of a quorum.

I hope that the SC will make a ruling on this, Claude indicated in his post that this would need 'some sorting out', but I wouldn't wait for them if I were you! Provided NuCARE chooses between the two remaining candidates who scored equally in the Borda count in the election (MT and Mizou) using some democratic means I can't see that there'd be any objection; MT, Mizou (or yourself) would make an excellent addition to the RA.

Our system allows non-party members to rank candidates... but only at election time. This was part of the reform initiated last term. It gives all voters who put a faction first the same power as faction members to choose between the candidates. But, when it comes to finding replacements between elections, it's down to the faction to choose a replacement. Confused? Yes, so am I! But there's no way to consider all possible eventualities and make plans for them. I don't recall there being a tie between candidates in the Borda count before and there's no explicit provision in the Constitution for what one should do in those circumstances. There is a mechanism for resolving the issue if two or more factions tie for first place in the Borda count so that the LRA can be selected - one or more rounds of Rock, Paper Scissors. You could always use that to solve the dilemma of filling your second seat!