Write-in votes, Banana votes...

[Darkness' Edge]

Three days, as per usual...

Just to clear things up...

Write-in vote: it's possible to vote for someone not on the ballot (useful if someone misses the deadline, for instance)

Banana vote: Basically an abstain

In the Civ2 game, we (I think) usually have write-in votes, but only have banana votes in the case of uncontested elections.

I haven't seen the Civ3 game have write-in votes, and only has banana votes in uncontested elections.

[Maniac]

You answered my question before I asked it. Poll thread updated. I'll do the major overhaul of the Official Polls Results thread after the elections. Now there's no point yet of having different branches for each minister as Unorthodox does.

[Kassiopeia]

Errr.. what's a write-in vote?

[Maniac]

I *think* a blank vote.

[Kassiopeia]

Then wtf would we do with both banana *and* write-in votes? Are they not the same thing?

[Zakharov VII]

I think Banana = Abstain, and Write In means you want to vote for a candidate not on the ballot (so you'd post below who your write in is). Not sure though.

Z

[Kassiopeia]

Then what would we do with a write in vote that allows you to vote for someone off the actual nominee list on the poll? I see little sense in arranging for such a possibility.

[MrWhereItsAt]

At present I am effectively suspended from the Director of Base Production election. However, my computer may be up and running the day of, or the day after, the start of elections (estimated fixed time Tuesday night NA/Europe time). If this is the case, I would reenter the race. If the election thread had been started by then, I would need write-in votes for a chance. I would likely be at a disadvantage anyway, as there may be a slight chance some of those who had already voted would have changed their vote had I been in the running. I promise now I would not (seriously) complain if I lost under these circumstances. I'd only moan about it for fun.

The one issue with write-in votes is that everyon gets to see who the write-in voter has voted for. IF this unnerves anyone, then perhaps write-in votes are ususally not a good idea, but if we don't care who see who we vote for (as I don't), then they can happen. Either way, we shouldn't exclude people from writing in.

And Banana votes? I think they should only be considered in the case of a single candidate running, thus providing an alternative to having a single bad candidate being guaranteed a place.

[Epistax]

Write in votes are basically a safety net. If there's an uncontested race, and it gets all the way to the election, it wont be too late for someone else to jump in and say 'vote for me'.