Voting System

I just finished the web-based voting system! Not a moment too soon either. I've been working at it for days using every spare moment I had. The code is really a step beyond what I've ever had to do. The hardest part was writing all the JavaScript. I love the way it just silently exits without error. I know, I know. My code monkey mentioned something about a debug console but I got it to work without it.

Now all I have to do is write the in-world voting booth, which should take about a couple of hours. It will be in place by the time voting starts tomorrow at midnight.

I had hoped to log in tonight to announce the vote to all the members, as I know, that not a lot of people read the forums. I've spoken to four people by email but haven't heard much else. Hopefully, you all have managed to get the word out while I've been working on the voting system. If not, for the love of God, will someone volunteer to do this tomorrow?

I'll have more updates tomorrow.

~Ulrika~

The voting system is up and running! Jaunani Wu and I casted our votes around 2:00 a.m. PST this morning.

I had to do some frantic last-minute coding tonight, when I discovered the LSL scripting language cannot detect an avatar's active group. It can only verify if the avatar has an active group that's the same group as an object's. To fix it, I had to look up all the groups and hard code the members into the server-side program.

For this election only two groups met the minimum member requirements and then just barely. For fun I tossed in the Costume Party just to make the voting page more interesting (I know -- bad precedent ) but we'll toss out those votes. So as it stands it's only the SDF and the MPP.

To get started, head out to the voting booth in the town square. The whole process takes about 2 minutes. I've attached a picture of the booth so you know what to look for.

Polls are open for the entire weekend.

~Ulrika~

After some feedback, I've made a couple of changes to the code. I added an HTML title tags to the vote page and to the receipt, so it's easier to find it in your bookmarks, if you need to.

I also discovered a logical error in the receipts. If people see your receipt, they can figure out whose vote it was, as the voter's name will not be in the ranking list. I'll modify the code next time to insert the voter's name randomly in the list, to obscure their identity. For this election, do not share your voting receipt (although by sharing it, one would know it's yours anyway).


Finally, after several hours of programming (plus a wait for my code monkey to get back home to help me with it), I finished the code that tallies the vote using a Borda count for the factions and a Borda count followed by the Sainte-Laguë method to allocate seats on the faction. It works like a charm!

After the results are final, I'll contact people at the top of the list one by one to see if they want to serve.


I do have a couple of questions for you all.

1. What do we do if a group receives more seats then they have members?
   
2. What do we do if some members in the group can't (other branches) or don't want to actually serve (just joined the group to get to the minimum) and there are no other members to fill in for them?
   

I was thinking we'd reduce the size of the RA until things worked. What are your thoughts?

~Ulrika~

It wouldn't let me vote with my faction title on. I had to vote with the Neualtenburg title instead. I could still vote for faction member order on the web site.

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Neualtenburg Voting Booth v1.1: You must have Neualtenburg set to your active group to use the voting booth.

Yes. I mentioned that briefly in a post above. It turns out there is no way in the Linden Scripting Language (LSL) to detect an avatar's active group. You can only compare it to an object to see if the avatar and object share a common group. As you discovered, I had to make some last-minute changes to the originally described procedure.

Since it was easy for me to build the voting booth under our group, I made the script check for our group. I then hard-coded all the members of the group into the server-side script. I'll try and come up with a better way of doing it next time.

~Ulrika~

I wanted to ask if there is any objection to keeping the vote open for another day or so. I've noticed that a few citizens who have been with the project since the beginning have not voted. My guess is that they didn't know the vote was occurring, as it was only announced in the forums. I sent them all IMs today but haven't heard back.

Personally, I'd like to see them get a chance to cast a vote. If you are all amenable to this, I'll leave the booth up for another day or so.

~Ulrika~

Personally, I'd like to see it closed. For the future, the voting information needs to be more available. I only knew because of the post in the General Forum.

Extending the vote is a bad precendent to set, IMO.

Well, if noone else objects, then extend it, but I'm really not too fond of extending the voting, honestly.

I agree that the voting was not well publicized. I published a list of dates on the 4th of January and asked for help getting the word out on the 10th and 14th, as I was buried with writing the code. Unfortunately, no one responded to my request for help nor did any factions submit updated descriptions or a faction logo. It's a little frustrating to be responsible for 40 hours of code development (I'm not a good coder), notifying all members after I finish (by email, IM, and the General Forum), and then getting criticism for not getting the word out. I am but one person.

The reason I want to keep the polls open is that BladeDancer, a principal member of the group, who's been with us since the first days, has yet to vote. (He built the church.) Normally, I would never extend the voting period, however I don't want our failure in notifying members to disenfranchise or alienate an important member.

~Ulrika~

I agree that we should keep the poll open, for several days if needed. While it is certainly true that voting should have a pre-announced limited time-span, this is not a normal election. This first vote is really a referendum, a vote of confidence, in a new formation.

We are desperately in need of structure. Every action now results from an energetic citizen making a solitary effort at something they feel will help. Ulrika's effort to "get out the vote" was in this catagory. We are too reliant on the forums, which are in a kind of schizophrenic removal from in-world experience. Another kind of cooperative effort, arising from the coming together of the groups which form the new government, is what must happen so that development of this vision can really move forward.

Here's my example, from the experience I know the best; mine. I arrived recently in SL, discovered Neualtenburg, and volunteered to whomever I could find. Everyone has been extremely generous, encouraging and open. But there has been a certain "cast adrift" quality to this "pre-structure" development period. I volunteered to develop a program for the museum. This I've started, but, because there is no structure, the whole effort is really in a vacuum. There's no group who, in a sense, I report to, who carries any authority vested by the citizens of Neualt. This kind of authority is really really needed.

(BTW, I support entirely Ulrika's decision to re-build the museum, and I'll help in any way I can. It is far too claustrophobic. And I agree that it wastes a great deal of land.)

And it will only first form when every last member, who really is an interested party, casts their vote. If you're not really an interested party to this process, then I question what is the basis of your membership in the group.

Last night Ulrika sent out a group IM reminding everyone to vote. This is not spam! If you're a member of Neualtenburg, you MUST vote. Otherwise your membership has no meaning.

I propose that she send out that IM at least once a day until it is determined to end the election. The group IM is the best communication medium we have. Of course, it must not be mis-used. But this is surely not a mis-use.

We should go to the absolute last ounce of effort to get every last participant in this.

If Ulrika is uncomfortable sending out this (frequent) IM, let me know. I'll be happy to send it.

Sudane

I've been out of the loop for a bit but even I knew when and where the vote was to be. I agree it should be kept open a little longer but no more that a day ...

I think we should have a constitutional provision that a popular vote should never be shorter than 3 days nor longer than a week.

To be fair, we should always provide time for people with normal lives to vote. But, assuming a certain depth of involvment is reasonable. So, there should only be a courteous period allowed, never an extraordinary period.

Just my thoughts.

I agree with this. In retrospect, a two-day voting window with not much warning wasn't sufficient. I'll add your recommendation to the constitution.

Also, I think our last two votes have come in. BladeDancer and Beryl Greenacre voted earlier today. If no one has any objections, I'll close the polls and release the results and analysis tonight. I won't be able to say who gets a seat yet, as I have to contact each person individually to see if they want to serve. If they don't, we'll go to the next person on the list.

~Ulrika~