Elections Policy Committee

Timeline

 * Nominations close: 10/3/2012 (12pm)
 * Candidates announced and advance voting opens: 11/3/2012
 * Voting closes: 18/3/2012 (midnight)
 * Announce Results: 21/3/2012

How to nominate someone

 * Send an email to the Executive Council
 * To:
 * board@pirateparty.org.nz
 * Containing:
 * subject line: Policy Committee Nomination
 * the full name or alias of the person you are nominating (which may be yourself)
 * your name,
 * Whether you are also nominating that person for Campaign Manager and/or Policy Committee Chair (aka Head of Policy). (Note: candidates for these positions have an advantage)
 * There will be a topic on the forum for candidates to write in support of their candidacy
 * When you nominate someone for Policy Committee, please note that candidates for Head of Policy and/or Campaign Manager have an advantage. There can only be one person on the Policy Committee who is neither Head of Policy nor Campaign Manager.

How to vote

 * Voting will be a 2-step process. You will need:
 * Your identifying email address, the one you signed up with, to verify your right to vote
 * A second, anonymous, email address
 * We suggest temporary account e.g. http://www.sendanonymousemail.net/ - but remember what your address is and
 * Only you and the Membership Officer will know this address - keep it strictly to yourself
 * Your vote (more info below)
 * A number
 * You choose this number
 * This number needs to be at least 6 digits
 * It should be something you expect will be unique
 * Only you know this number - keep it strictly to yourself


 * In your vote, you will have 3 ranked lists for the 3 different positions:
 * Policy Committee (3 seats) elected by STV
 * Campaign Manager (1 seat) elected by IRV from within the Policy Committee
 * Policy Committee Chair / Head of Policy (1 seat) elected by IRV from within the Policy Committee


 * Step 1 - voter verification
 * Email the Membership Officer (verify@pirateparty.org.nz)
 * send this email from your identifying email address
 * include your anonymous email address in the body
 * do not include your vote or number


 * Step 2 - voting
 * Email the Returning Officer (vote@pirateparty.org.nz)
 * send this email from your anonymous email address
 * include your vote and number
 * do not include your identifying email


 * In each ranked list, you can:
 * Rank as many candidates as you like
 * Note that giving any candidate *a* ranking, even a low one, might get them elected when the position would otherwise remain vacant
 * Leave some candidates unranked
 * This is effectively supporting the position remaining vacant instead of this candidate being elected

About the Policy Committee

 * The Policy Committee are basically "Pirate Party MPs", who aren't actually MPs.
 * They are responsible for:
 * coming up with policy options (through the member-driven policy development process),
 * running election campaigns and dealing with the media,
 * appointing a Pirate Party Leader,
 * monitoring what happens in parliament.
 * It currently consists of three members:
 * the Head of Policy, i.e. chair of the committee;
 * the Campaign Manager, primarily responsible for coordinating Party Public Relations,
 * one more Committee Member.

Information about Verification and Anonymity

 * The Membership officer will publish a list of valid anonymous email addresses
 * You will be able to check that yours is on the list
 * No one except you and the Membership Officer will know it belongs to you
 * The Returning Officer will publish all the votes along with the associated number
 * You will be able to identify your own vote by the number
 * No one except you will know it belongs to you
 * You can check that your vote is correct
 * Since you can see all the votes, you can check the calculation of the result

Calculation Method

 * Select the 3 top candidates for the Policy Committee using STV
 * The Droop Quota (1/4 of all votes) will be used
 * The quota will not be reduced to compensate for exhausted votes
 * Out of those 3 candidates, select one candidate for Campaign Manager by IRV
 * If the candidate appears on a majority of votes (i.e. is not unranked), they are elected. Otherwise they are eliminated and the IRV step repeated
 * Out of those top 3 candidates,s elect one candidate for Head of Policy by IRV
 * If the candidate appears on a majority of votes (i.e. is not unranked), they are elected. Otherwise they are eliminated and the IRV step repeated


 * If there are not enough candidates for Campaign Manager and Head of Policy elected to the Policy Committee:
 * Out of the 3 top Policy Committee candidates, excluding the successful Campaign Manager or Head of Policy, eliminate the one with the lowest vote surplus
 * Out of those remaining in the top 3, and all original candidates for the unfilled position, Repeat the STV process until one candidate for the unfilled position reaches the quota.
 * If the candidate appears on a majority of votes for the unfilled position (i.e. is not unranked), they are elected. Otherwise they are eliminated and the STV step repeated.