Elections Policy Committee June 2011

PiratePad

The Policy Committee is intended to develop the official policy platform for the party. It initially consisted of three members: the Head of Policy, who will chair the committee; the Campaign Manager, who will coordinate party Public Relations (not initially filled), and an Ordinary Committee Member to help avoid split votes.

Timing

 * Nominations close: 31/5/2011 (9pm)
 * Candidates announced and advance voting opens: 1/6/2011
 * Voting closes: 5/6/2011 (midnight)
 * Announce Results: 8/6/2011
 * First scheduled meeting of the Policy Committee: approx 11/6/2011

Terms (Glossary)
The following technical terms are used in the descriptions which follow. Please note that these may differ from common usage.
 * n - the number of seats in the position being elected
 * ballots - number of voting forms received, including votes for no candidates
 * votes for a candidate - number of voting forms where the candidate is ranked with any value
 * preferences for a candidate - number of voting forms where the candidate is ranked higher than a specific other candidate.
 * net preferences for a candidate - strength of the strongest path (Schulze method).  'most'/'least' net preferences means they have a stronger/weaker  strongest path against each other candidate individually
 * quota - (all ballots which have not been eliminated)/(n+1), an STV term

How to nominate (yourself)
Send an email to the executive council
 * To:
 * pirateparty@pirateparty.org.nz
 * Containing:
 * your name,
 * a statement that you are nominating yourself for the Policy Committee,
 * Whether you are also nominating yourself for either Campaign Manager or Head of Policy (but not both)

There will be a topic on the forum for you to write in support of your candidacy

How to vote

 * Where to vote:
 * Option 1 - email your vote to any executive council member any time before the  meeting. The final result will not be declared until all executive  council members not attending the meeting have responded.
 * Peter (vice-president@pirateparty.org.nz)
 * Bruce (treasurer@pirateparty.org.nz)
 * Noel (secretary@pirateparty.org.nz)
 * Tommy (president@pirateparty.org.nz)
 * Matt (matt@pirateparty.org.nz)
 * Option 2 - Nominate someone to vote on your behalf in the meeting. email an  executive council member who will be attending to inform us of this  nomination, the nominee will still be able to cast their own vote as  well.
 * Executive Council Members in attendance tbd
 * Submit 3 ranked lists for 3 different positions:
 * Policy Committee (3 seats)
 * Campaign Manager (1 seat)
 * Head of Policy (1 seat)
 * In each ranked list:
 * ballots will place a preference against a number of candidates. You many place a preference against ("vote for") as many or as few candidates as you choose, or no candidates at all.
 * The preferences do not need to be unique (you can give both candidates equal preference).
 * Example votes:
 * Vote for PPNZ Campaign Manager
 * Joe Smith (2)
 * John Citizen (1)
 * Vote for PPNZ candidate selection
 * Joe Smith (1)
 * John Citizen
 * Vote for PPNZ candidate selection
 * Joe Smith
 * John Citizen
 * Vote for PPNZ candidate selection
 * Joe Smith (1)
 * John Citizen (1)
 * All of the above are valid votes (except for the fact that the contestants will have different names). The lower number has a higher preference.
 * Winning candidates will be calculated using the method described below.
 * Candidates will then only be elected if they have a preference in ballots/(n+1) of the valid votes.
 * For elections to the positions of Campaign Manager and Head of Policy, this means candidates must have a majority of votes.
 * For elections to the Policy Committee (3 seats), this means candidates must have more than a quarter of votes.
 * i.e. any vote which does not give a particular candidate any preference at all is effectively supporting the position remaining vacant.

Summarized Process

 * Eliminate the losing candidate and redistribute surplus votes until 3 candidates for Policy Committee reach the quota. (STV, with an element of Schulze method)
 * Verify that candidates reaching quota have ballots/(n+1) votes (based on Botany Style)
 * In situations where this would not include one candidate for Campaign Manager and one candidate for Head of Policy, reserve a seat on the Policy Committee for the new Campaign Manager/Head of Policy
 * Find candidate for Campaign Manager with the most net preferences (Schulze Method)
 * Verify they have a majority of votes (Botany Style)
 * Find candidate for Head of Policy with the most net preferences (Schulze Method)
 * Verify they have a majority of votes (Botany Style)

Priorities

 * All successful candidates have ballots/(n+1) votes
 * Successful candidates for office positions on a committee must also be elected to the committee
 * elections to the Policy Committee (re. preferences) should be roughly as proportional as possible
 * elections to Campaign Manager and Head of Policy (re. preferences) should be roughly as proportional as possible
 * The number of votes for an unsuccessfull candidate should not be calculated

Method

 * Candidates for Campaign Manager must also be Candidates for Policy Committee, and must not also be Candidates for Head of Policy
 * Candidates for Head of Policy must also be Candidates for Policy Committee, and must not also be Candidates for Campaign Manager
 * Collect all valid ballots
 * STV elimination process:
 * Calculate the current quota
 * Redirect all surplus preferences (above the quota) for already elected candidates (STV technique)
 * If any candidate for Policy Committee not yet elected has more preferences than the quota, verify that they have ballots/(n+1) votes and declare them elected. If they do not have enough votes, eliminate the candidate.
 * If no further candidates have been elected or eliminated, eliminate the candidate with the least net preferences (calculated using Schulze Method)
 * repeat the STV elimination process, until either:
 * One candidate has been elected to the policy committee who is not a candidate for either Campaign Manager or Head of Policy, and there are candidates remaining for both Campaign Manager and Head of Policy
 * In which case, eliminate all remaining candidates who are candidates for neither Campaign Manager nor Head of Policy, and continue the STV elimination process
 * Two candidates have been elected to the policy committee, neither of which are candidates for Campaign Manager, and at least one candidate for Campaign Manager remains
 * In which case, eliminate all remaining candidates who are not also candidates for Campaign Manager, and continue the STV elimination process
 * Two candidates have been elected to the policy committee, neither of which are candidates for Head of Policy, and at least one candidate for Head of Policy remains
 * In which case, eliminate all remaining candidates who are not also candidates for Head of Policy, and continue the STV elimination process
 * Three candidates have been elected to the policy committee
 * All candidates have been either elected or eliminated
 * Use Schulze Method to find a successful candidate for Campaign Manager out of candidates for Campaign Manager who were elected to the Policy Committee. This shall be based on which candidate has the most net preferences for this position
 * Verify that the candidate with the most net preferences also has a majority of votes and declare them elected as Campaign Manager and to the Policy Committee. If this is not the case, eliminate that candidate and repeat.
 * If all of the candidates for Campaign Manager who were elected to the Policy Committee are eliminated, void the result and repeat the entire ballot counting process (from 1st iteration of STV elimination process) as though these candidates were not candidates for Campaign Manager
 * Use Schulze Method to find a successfull candidate (most net preferences) for Head of Policy, out of candidates for Head of Policy who were elected to the Policy Committee
 * Verify that the candidate with the most net preferences also has a majority of votes and declare them elected as Head of Policy and to the Policy Committee. If this is not the case, eliminate that candidate and repeat.
 * If all of the candidates for Head of Policy who were elected to the Policy Committee are eliminated, void the result and repeat the entire ballot counting process (from 1st iteration of STV elimination process) as though these candidates were not candidates for Head of Policy
 * Declare any remaining seats or offices to remain vacant
 * In the event of an exact tie between two or more candidates, continue the ballot counting process for all cases in parralell until they either converge or conclude.
 * If all cases converge, continue the process in a single thread
 * To the extent that all cases result in the same candidates elected to positions, declare the common result
 * To the extent that two or more cases lead to different candidates being elected to positions, all candidates are permitted to withdraw, and a declaration is witheld until a candidate withdraws.
 * When a candidate withdraws, repeat the entire ballot counting process (from 1st iteration of STV elimination process) without the withdrawn candidate.

FAQ

 * Q: under the STV elimination process, do you really mean "If they do not  have a majority of votes, eliminate the candidate"? Surely a candidate  with more preferences than the quota could still reach a majority in  later rounds--or am I not getting something?
 * A: In this document, "votes" includes all the ballots where the candidate is given any preference, and not just ballots where they have the highest preference. The votes do not change from round to round, only the preferences do.