Runoff Election to be held in District 4

[Fritz]

Fellow Atlasians,

The Senate election in District 4 has been declared a tie between Senator Harry and Josh22.  If you need to see the details of this turn of events, visit this thread.

Unless one of the candidates chooses to concede and withdraw, or unless this matter is brought before the court, a runoff election between the tied candidates will be held this weekend, August 27-29.

As this is a runoff election, write-in votes will not be permitted.  Voters in District 4 may vote only for one of the two candidates who were tied in the election.


Thank you,
Fritz

[7,052,770]

Is this open only to those 16 who voted last week, or to any D4 resident [ie, nclib]?

[Fritz]

Is this open only to those 16 who voted last week, or to any D4 resident [ie, nclib]?

Open to all District 4 residents who were eligible to vote in District 4 this last weekend.

[minionofmidas]

Is this open only to those 16 who voted last week, or to any D4 resident [ie, nclib]?

Open to all District 4 residents who were eligible to vote in District 4 this last weekend.

No, sorry, open to any District 4 residents who were registered there before the election - whether they were eligible or not. Look it up in the District 5 controversy of 4 months back if you don't believe me, but that's what the SC ruled, and that's what got StevenNick in the Senate.

[JohnFKennedy]

Well, while I'm no longer GM because I don't expect to have the time to do that job properly for a while, I do still have some free time, so I think I;ll go back to being an active voter.  Now when I took the job I changed ny party affiliation to none, but otherwise remained registered, so I believe I should be able to vote in the upcoming elections.  However,
I think I will engage in a change of party registration.  I'm not a perfect fit for any of the major parties, but I don't feel like being an independent in the forums, and I don't have time to work on getting a minor prty up to speed, so for now I'll go with the major party that comes closest to me on the issue that matters most to me, despite the fact that there are a number of issues with which I don't agree with their platform

Name: Ernest
State: South Carolina
Party: Republican (Southern Republican)

*Ahem* I just realised this when I looked at my voter rolls to remove the asterisked names Fritz listed for me and add John to the list (I Left a gap between those eligible to vote in the mid-terms and those not eligible)

Ernest registered on the fourteenth of August, the election took place from the twentieth to the twenty-second.

Article V

Clause 4. Only registered voters may vote at the forum. Registration will always remain open, accordingly, voters may register at anytime, but must register at least ten days before any election in order to partake in the election.

This means that Ernest's vote is null and voided as he did not meet the requirements to vote in the election over the last weekend and thus his vote cannot be counted as legal and a special election is not necessary.

[Fritz]

Ernest's registration of August 14 was merely a change of party.  He was registered prior to that, so his vote is valid.

[JohnFKennedy]

Ernest's registration of August 14 was merely a change of party.  He was registered prior to that, so his vote is valid.

He withdrew his registration to become GM didn't he?

[Fritz]

No, he didn't.  He was registered as an independent while he was GM.

[JohnFKennedy]

No, he didn't.  He was registered as an independent while he was GM.

Ah fair enough, I apologise.

[JohnFKennedy]

Fritz, will those whose registrations you just nullified be allowed to vote in the special election?

[Fritz]

Is this open only to those 16 who voted last week, or to any D4 resident [ie, nclib]?

Open to all District 4 residents who were eligible to vote in District 4 this last weekend.

No, sorry, open to any District 4 residents who were registered there before the election - whether they were eligible or not. Look it up in the District 5 controversy of 4 months back if you don't believe me, but that's what the SC ruled, and that's what got StevenNick in the Senate.

Not sure what you're referring to here.  It won't be an issue anyways because there have been no new registrants in district 4.  I phrased my response the way I did to make clear that Justin, who just moved to Florida,  can't vote in the runoff election.

[JohnFKennedy]

Is this open only to those 16 who voted last week, or to any D4 resident [ie, nclib]?

Open to all District 4 residents who were eligible to vote in District 4 this last weekend.

No, sorry, open to any District 4 residents who were registered there before the election - whether they were eligible or not. Look it up in the District 5 controversy of 4 months back if you don't believe me, but that's what the SC ruled, and that's what got StevenNick in the Senate.

Not sure what you're referring to here.  It won't be an issue anyways because there have been no new registrants in district 4.  I phrased my response the way I did to make clear that Justin, who just moved to Florida,  can't vote in the runoff election.

Walter Mitty registered and was not eligible to vote before, he is in District 4.

[Fritz]

Fritz, will those whose registrations you just nullified be allowed to vote in the special election?

Not an issue, none of them were from D4.   If they were, I think I would have to allow it.

[Fritz]

Is this open only to those 16 who voted last week, or to any D4 resident [ie, nclib]?

Open to all District 4 residents who were eligible to vote in District 4 this last weekend.

No, sorry, open to any District 4 residents who were registered there before the election - whether they were eligible or not. Look it up in the District 5 controversy of 4 months back if you don't believe me, but that's what the SC ruled, and that's what got StevenNick in the Senate.

Not sure what you're referring to here.  It won't be an issue anyways because there have been no new registrants in district 4.  I phrased my response the way I did to make clear that Justin, who just moved to Florida,  can't vote in the runoff election.

Walter Mitty registered and was not eligible to vote before, he is in District 4.

Youre right!  I guess WalterMitty can vote in the runoff.  Good point.

[Fritz]

Is this open only to those 16 who voted last week, or to any D4 resident [ie, nclib]?

Open to all District 4 residents who were eligible to vote in District 4 this last weekend.

No, sorry, open to any District 4 residents who were registered there before the election - whether they were eligible or not. Look it up in the District 5 controversy of 4 months back if you don't believe me, but that's what the SC ruled, and that's what got StevenNick in the Senate.

Lewis, are you sure about this?  Can you find the link for me?  The only voter it affects is WalterMitty.  

[JohnFKennedy]

Is this open only to those 16 who voted last week, or to any D4 resident [ie, nclib]?

Open to all District 4 residents who were eligible to vote in District 4 this last weekend.

No, sorry, open to any District 4 residents who were registered there before the election - whether they were eligible or not. Look it up in the District 5 controversy of 4 months back if you don't believe me, but that's what the SC ruled, and that's what got StevenNick in the Senate.

Lewis, are you sure about this?  Can you find the link for me?  The only voter it affects is WalterMitty.  

I can vouch for it, the Supreme court did rule as such, I remember as Lunar voted in the run-off.

[Fritz]

Ok, I'll take your word for it.

[JohnFKennedy]

Ok, I'll take your word for it.

So will Justin then be allowed to vote in this election as well?

[Fritz]

Ok, I'll take your word for it.

So will Justin then be allowed to vote in this election as well?

I don't think so.  He was in NH in the election last weekend, and voted there.  

[JohnFKennedy]

Ok, I'll take your word for it.

So will Justin then be allowed to vote in this election as well?

I don't think so.  He was in NH in the election last weekend, and voted there.  

Yes, I just looked, he said his registration change did not take effect until Monday meaning he was not registered to vote in that election beforehand so cannot vote in it.

[Niles Caulder]

Secretary Fritz,

It's been mentioned to me that acting GMs are not permitted to vote.  Is this the Forum policy?  A strong suggestion?  By the time the runnoff rolls around, I'll be neck deep in it.

[Fritz]

Secretary Fritz,

It's been mentioned to me that acting GMs are not permitted to vote.  Is this the Forum policy?  A strong suggestion?  By the time the runnoff rolls around, I'll be neck deep in it.

Thats an interesting question, and I dont know how to answer it.  Legally, there is nothing saying a GM cannot vote.  I think it is more of a strong suggestion that they do not.  Ernest was registered to vote while he was GM (as an independent), but I don't think a vote ever came up.

I think other forum members should express their opinion about this.  I can see good arguments for the GM not being allowed to vote, but like I said that's not really written into law.  Perhaps in this one case we could make an exception, since this is a re-vote of an election you did vote in.

Anyways, lets hear what others have to say.  Based on prevailing opinion, you may wish to re-consider becoming GM.

[Niles Caulder]

Thank you, Mr. Secretary

As Ernest has said, there's a strong pull to be on this side of the looking glass.  But I've made a commitment to the GM post, and will honor it.  The members of the Forum may be completely accepting of my civic participation-and trust that I will divide my Fantasy character from the rigid mode of neutrality required of a GM.  But I have to consider the precedent that would cause, and this one risks the infamous 'slippery slope' that negatively affects the Forum environment in the future.  There is already a wiser precedent set by those who've preceded me, and I will follow it.

I do ask that whatever duration I am GM not affect my voter registration, and that I be able to vote regardless of how many elections I've missed in the meantime.

I look forward to when the Forum is populous enough that such transitions don't affect election results so profoundly.

[Fritz]

Niles, I think you should vote in the run-off, since you did vote in the election this is a run-off for, and then bow out of voting after that.

Other opinions?

[Gustaf]

Personally, I think Niles should vote in the run-off, since it was so close and shouldn't be decided by him becoming GM, which he wasn't during the actual election. After that it'd probably be better if you didn't, at least not for the federal level.