The main thing is that SC made a choice. My ultimate goal is not to alter the number of seats to nuCARE (which I am no longer a member) but to have elections with the maximum amount of legitimacy and fairness.
To this effect, MT did submit a bill that would declare the 0 count method as being the official method - as Claude indicated the SC was not 100% certain of the method so had to choose the method of counting (which is the issue) after the polls had opened. And regardless of a tradition, this smacks of the SC changing the rules of an election while the election is underway.
Also this is first election where this made a difference so one could argue the 0 or 1 based borda count has never been differentiated until this date.
Unfortunately the RA refused to second the bill. I hope they come up with some other bill that would clarify.
Alternatively the SC should announce the method of arriving at the borda counts before the polls open next time (either form the RA laws or tradition, consulting Desmond, whatever).
I don't much care how we count the votes as long as it is known and announced before the polls open, and it is stuck to regardless of the election results. Like a real democracy.
All in all, this has been a pretty large screwup. And since the SC and RA do not want to take this seriously, or appears not to, it makes me wonder how dedicated to democracy the government is. I came to CDS to take part in a democratic experiment, and while there is a ton of debate and argument, this underlines how the basic foundations of a democratic process (free and fair elections usually have a fixed way of counting votes) need some shoring up. I can get a ton of drama just about anywhere in SL, but particiapte in a democracy? I was hoping here.
The current RA has a shadow of illegitimacy on it because of this. I hope the RA finds it in itself to correct this so the D in CDS can really mean "Democratic" without the sense of irony it has at the moment.
Aliasi Stonebender wrote:Bromo Ivory wrote:Cindy Ecksol wrote:[...] we merely used the method that had ALWAYS been used. [...]
Are you sure that was used in all cases in in all times, and that the most recent elections used this method and no other?
Yes.
Bromo, you're chasing up the wrong trail here. I know for a fact that zero-based Borda has been used in every single election, primarily because I've been HERE for every single election. Even considering one-based Borda is a recent suggestion that has never actually been used.