July 2022 Delegate election

July 2022 Delegate election

1‒at least 28 July 2022
Registered	TBD
Turnout	TBD
Candidate anjo Party Independent Popular vote TBD Percentage TBD
Delegate before election PenguinPies Elected Delegate TBD

The July 2022 Delegate election is an ongoing election held in the South Pacific since 1 July 2022 to elect the next Delegate of the South Pacific. PenguinPies, the incumbent, first declared her candidacy, but withdrew due to changing real-life circumstances later during campaigning. The election is currently in its first overall iteration, in the first iteration of the forum round; however, with only anjo currently on the ballot, a second forum round iteration is bound to be held to fill the second spot to advance to the gameside round. As such, the election is guaranteed to last at least until 28 July 2022 at this time.

Background

Delegate elections in the South Pacific take place every six months, with one scheduled in January and another in July. According to the Elections Act, a Delegate election had to be called on the 1st of July, 2022.

Electoral System

Main article: Delegate of the South Pacific § Election

The Delegate is elected in a two-step process. In a first round, held on the forums, legislators of the South Pacific determine two advancing candidates using approval voting. The top-two (or more, should there be a tie) most-approved candidates move on to a regional poll held on-site, where regional World Assembly member nations ultimately vote on the winner using the two-round system.

The declarations and campaigning periods would run concurrently for a week, after which the first round of voting would be held, lasting three days. A day after this concludes, the second round of voting would commence, with the poll remaining open for another week. Thereafter, the Election Commissioner would proclaim the results.

Due to the July 2022 Local Council election running at the same time, the gameside poll was originally planned to be delayed until 15 July, this was however rendered irrelevant due to the necessary second iteration of the forum round. On 31 January 2022, the Assembly changed the procedure for Delegate elections in an amendment package proposed by anjo, requiring that two actual candidates advance to the gameside round; previously, the wording allowed only one candidate and the Re-Open Nominations option to advance in case only one candidate ran, which had been the cause of dispute during the January 2022 Delegate election and the subject of an Executive Order from the Cabinet in response.

Campaign

First Forum Round

Incumbent PenguinPies first accepted a nomination and campaigned for reelection but withdrew later on due to real-life commitments; anjo also accepted his nominations. Amerion deferred his nomination, but did not accept or deny it later on; Kris Kringle never responded to his.

Declared Candidates
Bolded candidates are incumbents. Italicized candidates withdrew from the election. Struck candidates were disqualified from the race.
Candidate			Political office(s)	Campaign
		PenguinPies	Delegate of the South Pacific (since February 2022) Other offices Member of the Council on Regional Security Member of the Legislator Committee	Penguin for Delegate Vol2
		anjo	Director of the Office of World Assembly Legislation (since April 2022) Other offices Member of the Coral Guard Member of the Legislator Committee Ambassador to the Free Nations Region	Cake Supremacy

Penguin's campaign was again short, declaring to avoid "fancy promises [and] graphics". She started out by conceding starting difficulties during her term, but expressed satisfaction with her increasing hold on the job's duties as the term progressed and that she gave it her best. On the World Assembly, she lauded incumbent Director anjo and how the two of them worked together in taking care of TSP's WA interests. Lastly, she stated a desire that government ministers might increase their visibility on the Regional Message Board, claiming that it's "pretty cool if you give it a go", and closed with another pledge to give her best for TSP if re-elected. HumanSanity delivered scathing criticism of her term in the campaign thread, but Penguin didn't get to counter, as she withdrew her candidacy on 6 July, citing important shifts in her real-life obligations which would prevent her from efficiently holding office.

anjo based his campaign on the common Cake vs Pie debate in the South Pacific, in reference to Penguin being on the forefront of the pie side and himself liking cake better. Structured like a WA Security Council Declaration, he focused on three points, namely safety, the World Assembly, and gameside presence. He promised to support Delegate‒OWL collaboration and continue the popular monthly "endorsement days". Furthermore, he pledged to efficiently work together with the Local Council in routine border control actions. Regarding gameside presence, he suggested a new RMB Award program to reward high-quality posting more and stated that he would strive to keep a daily presence on the RMB, possibly supported by several "daily" formats (with Question of the Day and Today in History given as examples).

Results

The results of the first iteration of the forum round are scheduled to be certified by Election Commissioner Kris Kringle between 11 and 15 July..

Transition

The transition period of the Delegacy will begin after the certification of the result of the gameside round of voting.