March 2022 Local Council election
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All 3 seats on the Local Council | ||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | ~ 1100 regional WA members (TBD) | |||||||||||||||
| Turnout | TBD | |||||||||||||||
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The March 2022 Local Council election is an ongoing on-site election held in the South Pacific from 1‒14 March 2022 to elect a new Local Council.
Background
Local Council elections are scheduled regularly in the South Pacific, with all three seats up for election every March, July, and November.
Right before the start of the election, an extensive amendment to the Local Council Elections Act proposed to the Local Council by Kris Kringle was adopted after public approval had been attained.[1][2] The changes made included fixing the start of the election to the first of the respective month; previously, the sitting Local Council was free to call the election at their pleasure, provided the start of the election period fell into one of the stated months.[3] Furthermore, after the grotesquely stretched-out November 2021 Local Council election, a new process for reducing the field of candidates to 11 was introduced: In addition to a requirement of 120 days of residency to be included on the ballot, only the eleven longest-residing candidates would ultimately be allowed to stand.
Electoral System
The Local Council Elections Act stipulates that two rounds of voting will be held to determine the three winners; voters cast their single vote in each for their most-preferred candidate. In the first round, the candidate with the most votes wins a seat (a Single Non-Transferable Vote system, colloquially known as First-Past-The-Post), and all other candidates move on to a second round under the same rules, with the top-two candidates winning the final seats (two-winner SNTV).[4]
Due to NationStates poll restrictions, a single poll can only allow for 11 candidates and the Re-Open Nominations option at a time, so should there be more than 11 candidates running, the field is forcefully reduced. After the amendment to the LCEA went into force, this is done by simply removing all but the 11 longest-time residents running from the ballot.
The candidacy declarations period would last three days, followed by another three days of campaigning, after which the polls would open. Each poll would last three days, with a day of downtime in between.[4]
Candidates
So far, the Election Commissioner has verified the candidacy of one candidate. Incumbent Canadian Dominion was ineligible to run in the election following an amendment to the Local Council Elections Act establishing a minimum residency requirement; their colleagues Drystar and Apatosaurus have not yet officially declared their candidacies or declined nomination.
| Declared Candidates | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bolded candidates are incumbents. Italicized candidates withdrew from the election. | ||||
| Candidate | Political office(s) | Campaign | ||
|
Evinea | Legislator of the South Pacific (since December 2021) Other offices
Editor for the Ministry of Media |
Evinea For Local Council[5] | |
Results
The results of the election are scheduled to be certified on March 14th, 2022.[4]
References
- ↑ Canadian Dominion (26 Feb '22): Local Council Elections Act (LCEA) Amendment of 2022. NationStates. Retrieved 1 Mar '22.
- ↑ Kringalia (25 Feb '22): Local Council Elections Act Amendment of 2022 NationStates. Retrieved 1 Mar '22.
- ↑ The TSP Local Council (1 Jun '20): Local Council Elections Act. NationStates. Retrieved 1 Mar '22.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 EC Kris Kringle (1 Mar '22): March 2022 Local Council Election. NationStates. Retrieved 1 Mar '22.
- ↑ Evinea (5 Nov '21, edited 1 Mar '22): Evinea For Local Council. NationStates. Retrieved 1 Mar '22.