Moderator: SC Moderators
Would we like to change when the CDS elections take place, moving them from their current July and January times to another time of year? Please select your preference.
For those who would prefer to have the election times changed, it would be helpful to know when you think would be the best times of year for the elections to take place.
One possible elections schedule could be March-September, which would make winter and summer separate. The current elections (January-July) happen during the vacations of many, that can be problematic.
Timo Gufler wrote:One possible elections schedule could be March-September, which would make winter and summer separate. The current elections (January-July) happen during the vacations of many, that can be problematic.
I agree.
Cindy
May and November would accomodate the same thing as Timo recommends, while not diverting our resources from Oktoberfest, which generally begins on the CDS Anniversary (September 20) and ends in early October.
Rose Springvale wrote:May and November would accomodate the same thing as Timo recommends, while not diverting our resources from Oktoberfest, which generally begins on the CDS Anniversary (September 20) and ends in early October.
Hey, I'm ok with this too 
ANYTHING but June and January!
Cindy
Timo Gufler wrote:One possible elections schedule could be March-September, which would make winter and summer separate. The current elections (January-July) happen during the vacations of many, that can be problematic.
I agree with Timo on this. I'd like to suggest that the term runs from March 21st and September 21st of each year, the Spring and Autumn equinox.
Pip Torok
Would you then just stop doing Oktoberfest?
One consideration is that the election preparations (like updating the party platforms), community meetings and debates all happen before the elections. For example, the elections currently take place in July and January, making the months of June and December busy times for the CDS factions. As Timo pointed out, these are times when many people are on summer and winter holidays.
Although I understand the equinox concept and think it could be very good in theory, I agree with Rose it would be more pragmatic to have the fall/winter elections happen after Oktoberfest was over. 
I believe the election schedule we have is largely a result of happenstance. By the time things like term length and election process were worked out, it was almost January and voila, the schedule was born.
The whole process - campaign, vote, sorting out - takes close to a month. Several people have expressed a strong desire to have no overlap between any of that month long process and Oktoberfest (or I would presume it's preparations, although seating the fall RA on September 20 would be a cool way to kick things off) Just how much space prior to Oktoberfest do we need? I notice that planning started in mid June. If the goal is to keep June - mid October free of electoral activity, then a schedule that puts elections in May and November is almost the only possibility.
For purposes of argument, let's say that you wouldn't want to start campaigning before October 15. Elections would be the first week of November (a bit frighteningly American With new RA taking office around mid month, Just in time to be stopped dead in its tracks by winter holidays
Flip flopping six months gives you a late April campaign, voting around May Day and seating the RA c. May 15. Another historical date one might build around is 18 June, when the CDS became the CDS (in name) This would split the difference between the current schedule and the suggested May/November. Citizens could vote in early June and December before going on holiday, with campaigning in late May and November.
If the RA were to take up these proposals, would it perhaps be better to accommodate any transition with a shorter than usual RA term rather than a longer than usual one?
The historical reasoning for the American elections in November seems to be based on a calendar convenient for an agrarian society. In SL, obviously we can plant, harvest and celebrate any day, but for many of us, adding ANYTHING to the month of December is a nightmare.
Getting the entire community engaged in one of our most important functions during a month when many of us are already over stressed with RL seems only to ask for dismal participation. CDS only had 39 people vote in the last election.. i think we would risk even lower turnout if we tried to hold elections in December. On the other hand, the relatively few, by comparison, number of RA Members could get together and deal with the logistics of the term.. agreeing on dates and times, agenda items, assigning commissions, electing the Chancellor, etc. With only two meetings in most months, this seems like a good use of the time. Also, it seems to me that in more than one year we've not been able to achieve quorum at December RA meetings, so leaving that month to the administrative issues, which can be handled off world if necessary, makes great sense to me.
Finally, Oktoberfest work starts the day after Oktoberfest ends. Not sure where the june date comes from, but i think the administration that does the work should be the one in place for the festival. There is enough confusion... plus... these are traditionally our two biggest events in CDS. Why would we dilute the value of either by smushing them together? Elections don't just have the voting, there are faction meetings, which means someone has to pull together platforms and take time to educate citizens, meet the candidate events, debates, etc. Just because we make it look easy doesn't mean there isn't a LOT Of time and effort going on behind the scenes.
As to the second part of Claudes question, i'd rather see us extend a term than shorten it, simply because of the reasons stated. Do we really want to go through all that again in just a couple of months?
Pip Torok wrote:Timo Gufler wrote:One possible elections schedule could be March-September, which would make winter and summer separate. The current elections (January-July) happen during the vacations of many, that can be problematic.
I agree with Timo on this. I'd like to suggest that the term runs from March 21st and September 21st of each year, the Spring and Autumn equinox.
Pip Torok
Would I then just stop doing Oktoberfest? asks Rose ...
No, in no way. My suggestion (notice ... _suggestion_ !) I'd put forward to highlight the underlying problem:
(1) We are the CDS and we have elections. Elections for a term of 12 months or longer, or for a term of 3 months (or shorter!) are clearly impractical.
(2) The work involved in electing members for equal terms of 6 months will entail that one set of activity falls between July 1st and December 31st.
(3) Finding a convenient "window" is constrained by the RL occurrence of Summer vacation and the December Saturnalia. In addition, for active citizens of the CDS, there is the work involved in Oktoberfest.
Hence the problem and herewith the suggestion. As Rose saw, it implies that once the election work is under way, from the beginning of September onwards, arrangements for Oktoberfest would largely be in place. And yes, RA's, LRA's, Chancellors even will be beavering away at Oktoberfest, all the time aware that they _may_ no longer have those titles once festivities start!
I notice that the voting on this question has, to date (14th August), been one-way. We all, it seems, sense a problem.
Pip Torok
Rose,
I based my June estimate for Oktoberfest work on the earliest posting I could find on the forums this year discussing Oktoborfest preparations. It was dated 14 June and stated (perhaps in a transcript) that the first planning meetings for this year had happend a couple of weeks before, I believe.
Ah, I see... well, if you go back to last year, we have a post mortem thread from the day after Oktoberfest closed. Also many people work year round getting ready for it.. pretty much the whole PIO team. Who, as you all recall, are appointments of the Chancellor, who is elected at the first meeting of the RA... which happens after the RA is elected... See the domino effect here?
There seems to be enough support for such a change that we can discuss having a bill for it in the Representative Assembly.
For me personally, I think it could be good to move the election times, but I also have a concern about the RA voting to extend its own term. Two solutions to this problem I can see are:
1) We could have the decision come into effect for the next RA, from January to November. This would make it so the current RA members would not be included in the change (unless they are reelected this December), and the community would have time to prepare for the schedule change.
2) A referendum vote could also be a possibility, as a question like "Should the election times be moved? Yes/No." This would allow the whole CDS community to have a say in the decision.
As a first offering, I will suggest this wording for a bill:
"Amendement to NL 7-5, the Electoral Reform Amendment Act
The election schedule shall be revised in NL 7-5, the Electoral Reform Amendment Act, so elections take place the first full week of November and the first full week of May, if this revision passes a CDS-wide referendum vote by greater than 50% with the wording: 'Shall the CDS election schedule be moved so the elections take place the first week of November and the first week of May? Yes or No."
NL 7-5, the Electoral Reform Amendment Act, can be found here: http://portal.slcds.info/index.php?id=207
The current CDS election times are described there in §1.2, paragraph 4.