Election draft

Announcements

 * 1) If an announcement is to be made under these bylaws, it shall be made to the Party website and to any means of communication typically used by party members.
 * 2) Administrators responsible for those means of communication shall post announcements instead of the announcer if the announcer cannot do so alone.

Federal Council

 * 1) Constitution of the Council
 * 2) The Federal Council shall consist of:
 * 3) The Party Leader; and
 * 4) Four Directors at Large;
 * 5) Members of the Council may be referred to as directors.
 * 6) One member of the Council shall be the Chairperson, elected by the Council from among its members.
 * 7) Vacancies in the Council
 * 8) A director ceases to be a member of the Council when:
 * 9) They announce their resignation.
 * 10) An election for the Council concludes, and they did not win a seat;
 * 11) He or she ceases to be eligible to seek election to their post; or
 * 12) A resolution to expel the director from the Council is passed, by at least a 75% majority of those voting, by either the Council or a general meeting of members.
 * 13) The Party Leader cannot be expelled from the Council by a resolution of the Council.
 * 14) When a vacancy occurs in the Council:
 * 15) The vacancy shall be announced;
 * 16) The Council shall set a date for a by-election, with the nomination period opening as soon as possible to meet other requirements in the bylaws; and
 * 17) A general meeting of members or the Council can appoint an interim director for the vacancy, provided that the interim director would be eligible to seek election to that post.
 * 18) Appointments of interim directors made by a general meeting of members overrule those made by the Council.
 * 19) If the vacancy is in the Party Leader position, the Council shall appoint an interim Leader from the remaining Directors.
 * 20) The appointee shall retain their original position, but cannot exercise any powers of that position until they cease to be the Party Leader.

Election Procedure

 * 1) Definitions
 * 2) For the purposes of this section of the bylaws, all references to elections, candidates, nominations, votes, seconds, and so on refer exclusively to elections for the Federal Council, unless otherwise specified.
 * 3) An election represents one overarching event; it consists of one or more independent races for positions on the Council. Ballots are cast on individual races, though most voters will cast ballots for all races in an election simultaneously.
 * 4) Returning Officer
 * 5) The Party shall have a Returning Officer (RO), to be appointed by a general meeting of members.
 * 6) To be eligible to be appointed RO, a person must be:
 * 7) A member of the Party; and
 * 8) Not a member of the Federal Council or a candidate for election thereto.
 * 9) In order to take on the position of RO, a person must agree to an oath or solemn affirmation to uphold the principles of democracy and the bylaws and constitution of the Party in conducting the election, and ensure that the election proceed in a fair and just manner.
 * 10) A general meeting of members may appoint a RO in anticipation of the oath or solemn affirmation; that person shall take on the position immediately after the oath is agreed to.
 * 11) A person ceases to be RO when:
 * 12) They provide written notice of resignation to the Council;
 * 13) A successor, having been duly appointed and having agreed to the oath or solemn affirmation, takes the post; or
 * 14) He or she ceases to meet any of the eligibility requirements for RO.
 * 15) When the position of RO becomes vacant, the members of the Council shall be informed as soon as possible, and the vacancy shall be announced.
 * 16) If there is no RO, and an election is ongoing or will begin before the next general meeting of members, the Council has the authority to appoint a new RO, and shall do so as soon as possible.
 * 17) Duties of the Returning Officer
 * 18) The RO organizes and runs internal party elections.
 * 19) It is the RO's responsibility to ensure that each election is held under democratic principles, that the secrecy of ballots is maintained, and that everyone is given fair chance to run and vote.
 * 20) The RO may ask for the assistance of any person, including someone ineligible to be RO, provided that the RO ensure that the integrity of the elections is maintained.
 * 21) Party members shall provide what aid is required to ensure the RO can perform their duties.
 * 22) Election Dates
 * 23) The date for a general election for the Council shall be set by a general meeting of members.
 * 24) The date shall be no more than four years after the previous general election, unless this is impossible or would conflict with another requirement regarding the date.
 * 25) The election shall be scheduled such that the nomination period begins no sooner than the day immediately following the day on which the election date is set.
 * 26) The election shall be scheduled such that a general meeting of members shall occur during the week immediately prior to the start of voting period.
 * 27) The voting period for an election begins on the date scheduled for the election.
 * 28) The voting period ends one week after it begins.
 * 29) The campaigning period begins three weeks before the voting period begins, and ends when the voting period begins.
 * 30) The nomination period begins ten days before the campaigning period begins, and ends when the campaigning period begins.
 * 31) The RO can extend a period of an election if not doing so would seriously compromise the election's fairness. The RO must announce such an extension and the reason for it.
 * 32) The dates of subsequent periods of the election are pushed back accordingly.
 * 33) The announcement of the extension must include the new dates for any periods so adjusted.
 * 34) The length of the extension should be kept to a minimum required to ensure the fairness of the election.
 * 35) Circumstances under which this would be acceptable include, but are not limited to:
 * 36) A new RO taking over during an election who needs to get their records in order; or
 * 37) A serious disruption to voting mechanisms when an election is in its voting period.
 * 38) The same applies, mutatis mutandis, to a by-election, except that a by-election is canceled if a general election is set less than one month after the by-election was to conclude.
 * 39) Eligibility
 * 40) A person's eligibility to vote in an election is evaluated at the end of the nomination period and remains fixed for the remainder of the election.
 * 41) A person is eligible to vote in a race if they are:
 * 42) A member in good standing.
 * 43) A person is eligible to be a candidate in a race if they are:
 * 44) A member in good standing;
 * 45) Ordinarily resident (per the Elections Canada definition) in Canada;
 * 46) Of at least eighteen years of age; and
 * 47) Not the Returning Officer.
 * 48) A person is eligible to second a nomination if they are eligible to be nominated for the same race and they are not the nominee.
 * 49) During an election, a person's residency shall be determined from the address on file with the Party at the start of the campaigning period.
 * 50) Nominations
 * 51) During the nomination period, any person can nominate themselves as candidate for one or more races by making a post to the forum designated by a general meeting of members or by the Council for that purpose.
 * 52) Any person eligible to second a nomination for a race may do so during the nomination period by replying to the nomination post and clearly specifying in that post that they second the nomination.
 * 53) A nominee can withdraw their nomination from one or more races at any time prior to the end of the voting period by:
 * 54) Editing the original nomination to clearly specify that they withdraw the nomination; and
 * 55) Replying to the original nomination post and clearly specifying that they withdraw the nomination.
 * 56) When seconding or withdrawing a nomination for multiple races, absent indication to the contrary, it will be assumed that the second or withdrawal applies to all those races.
 * 57) At the end of the nomination period, all nominees whose nominations have the requisite number of seconds and who are eligible to be candidates for a given race will become candidates in that race.
 * 58) Three seconds are required for a race for Party Leader.
 * 59) One second is required for any other race.
 * 60) The RO shall announce the candidates for each race as soon as possible after the campaigning period starts.
 * 61) A candidate is withdrawn from a race and ceases to be a candidate when:
 * 62) He or she sends written notice of withdrawal to the RO; or
 * 63) He or she ceases to meet the eligibility requirements for the candidacy.
 * 64) The RO shall announce any withdrawals and ensure that, if technically feasible, the voting mechanisms carry notice of the withdrawals.
 * 65) Voting Procedure
 * 66) Election Systems
 * 67) A general election shall consist of two simultaneous races: one for the Party Leader and one for all of the Director at Large positions.
 * 68) The races are resolved with the Party Leader race first and Director at Large race second.
 * 69) If a person wins a race in an election, he or she is not eligible to win any of the subsequent races in that same election.
 * 70) A by-election shall consist of a race for the post being contested.
 * 71) If a by-election is required for a seat which, in a general election, would be contested in the same race as another seat for which a by-election date has been set, then a general meeting of members may, instead of setting a date for a second by-election, add the seat to the first as part of the same race.
 * 72) Voting Procedure
 * 73) The RO shall define the means by which ballots are cast.
 * 74) The means of voting, and instructions on how to use them, shall be announced by the RO no more than one week before the opening of the voting period.
 * 75) The RO shall endeavour to ensure that the methods of voting remain accessible throughout the voting period.
 * 76) Persons ineligible to vote in a given race cannot cast a ballot for that race.
 * 77) The RO cannot cast a ballot in any race.
 * 78) Every other eligible voter can have only one ballot counted for each race.
 * 79) If a voter casts multiple ballots for a race, only the last ballot so cast shall be counted.
 * 80) For each race, an eligible voter can cast as a ballot an ordered list of one or more candidates, with the preferred candidate coming first.
 * 81) The RO may have the voting mechanism give voters the option to randomize the order of some or all of the candidates, for the voters' convenience.
 * 82) The RO shall take measures to verify each voter's identity, and at the same time ensure that a voter's identity remains as independent as possible from the ballot cast.
 * 83) Acclamation
 * 84) If a given race in an election would have an number of candidates equal to or less than the number of posts being contested, then no vote shall be held for that race. The RO shall instead announce that the candidates have won by acclamation.
 * 85) Those winners shall be deemed elected and assume their posts when the announcement is made with the winners of the election.
 * 86) If no vote is to be held for an election, the voting period never happens and the RO can announce winners immediately; the RO shall otherwise wait for the voting period to conclude.
 * 87) If fewer candidates are acclaimed than posts being contested, the remaining posts become or remain vacant.
 * 88) No interim director may be appointed to a post left vacant due to insufficient candidates.
 * 89) Selection of Winners
 * 90) Throughout this section, the following definitions shall apply:
 * 91) A valid ballot is a ballot counted for a given race.
 * 92) The signature of a ballot is the ordered set of candidates to appear on it, except for candidates not eligible to win the race for which the ballot was cast.
 * 93) Ballots with the same signature are, for the purposes of this section, fungible.
 * 94) A countable ballot is a valid ballot with a non-empty signature, and not designated as disqualified by another bylaw.
 * 95) The voting threshold for a race is (V/(N+1)), where V is the number of valid ballots for that race and N is the number of seats being contested.
 * 96) A supporting ballot for a candidate is a ballot with that candidate as the first candidate in its signature.
 * 97) To select the winner for a race, the following steps shall be repeated until every seat being contested is filled:
 * 98) If any candidate or candidates have more supportive ballots (the winning ballots) than the voting threshold, then:
 * 99) Those candidates are elected, each filling one seat being contested and making them no longer eligible in the race.
 * 100) If there are less remaining seats than candidates to be elected, the RO decides which of those candidate or candidates are elected so that each seat being contested is filled.
 * 101) For each unique signature among the winning ballots, a number of countable ballots with that signature are disqualified equal to floor(S/N*T), where S is the number of winning ballots with that signature, N is the number of winning ballots, and T is the voting threshold.
 * 102) Otherwise, the candidate or candidates that have or are tied for the least number of supporting ballots are disqualified from the race and are no longer eligible to win.
 * 103) If this would result in there being fewer remaining eligible candidates than unfilled seats being contested, then the other eligible candidates are all elected, and the RO shall select an additional number of candidates that would be disqualified to be elected so that each seat is filled.
 * 104) Post-Election Procedures
 * 105) After an election, the RO shall announce the winners and the tally of votes.
 * 106) The winners assume office immediately as of the announcement, replacing the incumbent(s).
 * 107) The RO shall make available as much information on the election's voting as is possible to reveal without compromising its security and, in particular, the anonymity of the ballots.
 * 108) The RO may report the existence of a fake ballot to preserve the anonymity of their own deciding vote.