Election Results - January 2006

Below is a summary of the results for the vote. As you know, factions are rated from 1 to 3 with more "points" going to those who are higher rated. The equation which calculates the score gives the highest ranked faction a "1" and the lowest ranked faction a "0". Factions in between receive fractional amounts. Because we now have three parties, this is the first election where this Borda method of ranking has had an effect.

The Sainte-Laguë method is then used to distribute RA seats along with information provided by users on whether or not they want to serve. The table used to calculate which faction receives what seat is provided below.

Faction Vote (Borda Count)   Votes  Percent  Score  Percent
  Social Democratic Faction  9.000  45.0%   10.500  35.0%
  Moderate Peoples Party     4.000  20.0%    8.500  28.3%
  Democratic Pragmatist Uni  7.000  35.0%   11.000  36.7%

Faction Seat Allocation
  Sainte-Lague Method V/(2s+1), Borda Count
  Votes            SDF     MPP     DPU  Seat
 --------------------------------------------
  Seat 1        10.500   8.500  11.000  DPU
  Seat 2        10.500   8.500   3.667  SDF
  Seat 3         3.500   8.500   3.667  MPP
  Seat 4         3.500   2.833   3.667  DPU
  Seat 5         3.500   2.833   0.733  SDF
 --------------------------------------------
  Seats              2       1       2 
  Percent          40%     20%     40% 

The RA will be comprised of the following people listed in the order which they were voted in.

Representative Assembly by Seat
   1 DPU Claude Desmoulins
   2 SDF Gwyneth Llewelyn
   3 MPP Pendari Lorentz
   4 DPU Aliasi Stonebender
   5 SDF Kendra Bancroft

Thanks to everyone who voted!

Up next is the analysis.

~Ulrika~

Yay!! Congratulations everyone! And thank you to all who voted!!

Now a question I have. Ulrika, feel free to move this question to a new thread if you do not want it in this one!


Our Constitution states:

Article 1
Section 3 - The Representative Assembly Leader
The Leader of the RA is the head of the faction which receives the largest number of representative seats in the RA. In the event of a tie, the faction with the largest score of the two becomes the leader of the RA.


Due to the fact that from this election, we have 2 people from one party, 2 people from another, and 1 person from the 3rd party... There is a tie for the 2 parties that received the largest number of representative seats. So how will the LRA be chosen for this term?

Every Vote Counts

This was an election defined as much by those who voted as by those who did not vote. The SDF and DPU were within 1 point of each other's score for most of the election. Additionally, in the SDF the top three candidates (of which two received a seat) were within a fraction of a point from each other as well. This means that one additional vote could have changed not just the distribution of seats but who actually served on the RA as well!

In regards to the factions, the DPU finished with a score of 11.0 and the SDF finished with a score of 10.5. Given that each voter distributes 1.5 points to factions' score, this difference is equivalent to 1/3 of a voter's points!

In regards to the SDF, the top three candidates finished within 1 point of each other, which is a difference equivalent to 1/4 of a voter's points!

To reiterate, a single vote could have changed everything. Imagine how exciting it was for me to slowly watch the returns come in, each vote changing the leading faction and the makeup of the RA.


Voter Turnout

This is the first election where we have not had 100% turnout, with only 20 of 26 votes cast (76%). What's interesting is that several individuals who responded to the request to declare a faction responded but then did not vote.

In regards to the factions, the DPU and MPP had 100% turnout, while the SDF had a 75% turnout, which cost the SDF the majority (but not a seat).


Faction Info

Voters affiliated with a faction ranked their faction as number one in 94% percent of the votes. Unaffiliated voters ranked number one the SDF 50%, the DPU 50%, and the MPP 0%.

~Ulrika~

It is Claude Desmoulins since the DPU had the highest score (11.0). Congratulations Cluade!

Wait until he finds out that the head of the RA has the same power as everyone else, with more work (posting transcripts, etc.). Seriously though, Claude will become the new public voice for N'burg, when it's needed.

~Ulrika~

This looks to be a very exciting assembly. I'm jazzed.

That makes sense!! And yes Congratulations Claude!!

As much as I *really* love having been the LRA, it will be nice to have someone else handling those tasks this term. hehe

And I agree Kendra! The lineup looks great! I think this is going to be a really good term!

What an interesting result Congratulations to everyone who'll serve on this term, and special congratulations to Claude

And thanks again to Ulrika for her untiring work in setting up the election procedure and doing her always insightful comments.

Now that the election is over, I'm sure everyone is eager to get started on moving their platforms forward. Since 3/5 of the RA are first-time members, I thought post some advice:

1. Remember that you are representatives, so be sure to seek opinions from your constituents before proceeding.
   
2. The RA exercises power through legislation, the passing of laws. Discuss your ideas, seek compromise, and then turn ideas into bills which are voted on by the RA. Task the Guild and citizens to help realize the new laws.
   
3. Avoid hidden communications (email) and instead work in the forums and post transcripts of SL meetings to the forums.

With pro-expansion factions occupying the majority of seats, I imagine that that will be the focus of great attention for the next few weeks. Beyond the expansion of the sim, there are also a few critical topics that need to be addressed:

1. N'burg is dire in need of a budget that provides compensation for past and current work on the sim (building, scripting, web site). This budget should be passed before expansion such that we can price the land of the new sims accordingly.
   
2. I have a list of potential modifications to the Constitution to fix current errors and head-off future problems. I'll transferring those ideas to the Constitution thread and will try to submit them to the RA as soon as possible.
   
3. Finally, we need to agree upon a vision for the platz. We seem to be vacillating between a recreation of a medieval city and an open-air mall right now. Given that all stores have been vacant since the beginning, how much do we want to empasize sales? Now that we're expanding should we just relegate commercial activity to a future sim that's optimized for it and restore the platz as a public area?

~Ulrika~

Congradulations all!

I was thinking, you've been the longest-serving member of the RA, first having held a seat back in 14 Nov 2004, when the provisional government formed.

~Ulrika~

Aw shucks. I'm happy to do it. *cough* budget salary *cough*

This election was very difficult for me. Every time I sat down at the computer, I'd gasp in excitement and then fight the urge to leak out information on the forums. It was a real exercise in self control.

~Ulrika~

Hehe I guess so But exercising self-control is never harmful

Consider it as "free therapy", thus a "benefit", which we'll subtract from the budget

/me has to stop reading so many Dilbert comics

The members-of-the-government page has been updated.

http://www.neualtenburg.org/government/members/

~Ulrika~

Hahaha! I have no Guild vote!! hehehehehehe

On the other hand, as a member of the RA --I will be setting up offices in the Altenburg district, complete with a suggestion box for citizens. I'll be listing office hours in "events" for those citizens wishing to discuss their issues with an RA member face to face, or for perspective immigrants to ask questions anout life in Neualtenburg.

I plan to work hard for the people of Neualtenburg, and am grateful for this opportunity to serve their needs.


Continuing in my new role as a simple meister, I will also begin my workshop

Any journeymen and or apprentices who wish to join , message me. It's my hope to get many collaborative efforts underway. Conversely any Meisters who wish to use my resources on personal works or public works in collaboration please let me know.

I guess this just goes to show how things can take unexpected turns. When I started the DPU it was mostly about putting some issues (like constitutional and legal reform) on more of a front burner. I wasn't really thinking about a seat on the RA, much less being LRA ( I guess I need a business card now ) This will be quite the challenge , particularly in handling meeting schedules and my toddlers at the same time. I will e-mail the rest of the incoming RA about meeting times.

Could someone please let me know where I can find one of those transcript taking objects? Looks like I'll need one of those too.

The parts for a SL capable computer should be arriving at my house today. If anyone has experience with getting the SL client to work with WINE/Linux, advice would be greatly appreciated. Whether I could make it to a Sunday afternoon RA meeting this week is quite dependent on how quickly I can assemble this thing.

Events present the new RA with both challenges and opportunities (see Gwyneth's thread from today about second sims) The new Gildemeister's forthcoming economic proposals will, I'm sure, also generate healthy discussion.

Please IM with any questions,concerns, agenda items, proposed bills, or ideas for improving our city. I intend to keep in-world office hours, but I don't know when they'll be.

Looking forward to serving Neualtenburg,
Claude

Claude, the one I have is a non-transferable beta device provided to me by Eloise Pasteur, which I also use for some of my RL in SL activities. I'll contact her regarding arrangements to get one for permanent use by NBurg.


Sudane

Kendra,

I've been wanting to do something like this for a while myself! If you like, if you think we can make use my building that sits at the fork of the road leading out of Altenburg into Neualtenburg, just say the word! I'd really like that building to be more than just a house. And I'm happy to donate my prims allotment for it!

I confess, these results surprise the hell out of me. As I've said many a time, I have never had any particular desire to hold an RA seat - I joined the DPU because I think the issues Claude is trying to bring to the table are important, as a show of support, and figured we'd get one seat and he'd be in it. It was after discussion that I decided to click the "as necessary" option, just in case.

Yet the case has happened. "How do you make God laugh? Make plans." I'll give it a shot.

Excellent acceptance speeches all.

I'm excited about the new RA and especially about the third faction. It eliminated the polarization created from having only two factions and really showed what the Borda count and Sainte-Laguë method can do.

I really feel like this is the beginning of a new phase for the city.

~Ulrika~

Gratz all. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help and support you.

p.s. I have server space and bandwidth to donate.

What is the effect upon the election and RA when one of the elected RA members (half of the SDF Faction caucus) announces her departure less than a week after election? /103/2e/83835/1.html

Yes, it's a non-issue really, but this has actually been successfully dealt in the past, when we had 7 RA members (and not the usual 5) and there was a certain amount of "rotativity" involved.

Elected RA members that leave are simply replaced by the next RA member in their respective faction list which got the most votes. It's a quite simple procedure and happens all the time

Sudane, I'm aware that the individual example has been mooted (for the moment).

The institutional question remains, which Gwyneth has kindly answered.