The Prime Minister, the Delegate, and the Chair of the Assembly are positions elected in the South Pacific. All elections in our region are similar in how they are carried out, with just a few variations in electors, voting methods, and time. The Election Commissioner carries out and oversees elections.

Every election in the South Pacific consists of three periods:

• Nomination: When candidates declare their candidacy or nominate others.

• Campaign: When candidates convince voters to vote for them via campaigns, debates, etc.

• Voting: When electors vote for their preferred candidates.

The various elections

• Prime Minister elections: The PM is the head of government and of the Cabinet. The PM is elected every 3 months by registered citizens using Instant-Runoff Voting. Only citizens may run for the PM position. Successful PM candidates typically have experience working in government ministries.

• Delegate elections: The Delegate is the head of state and holds the gameside Delegate position. The Delegate is elected every 6 months (16 days before the first of February and August) in two rounds. The first round happens on the forum and is voted on by citizens using Approval Voting. Two most-voted candidates (or any candidate that ties with them) move to second round. The second round happens in the game and is voted on by native World Assembly nations using the game's built-in polls (which follow first-past-the-post). Only citizens may run for the Delegacy. Successful delegate candidates need to be trusted by citizens and are popular in the gameside community.

• Chair of Assembly elections: The Chair of the Assembly, who handles administrative matters of the Assembly, is elected every 6 months (8 days before the first of May and November) by legislators of the Assembly using Approval Voting. Only legislators may run for the Chair position.

When is the next election?

Check the table above. You will always be notified when an election happens via dispatches, forum posts, and Discord messages.

How do I vote in an election?

When an election happens, you will be notified via dispatches, forum posts, and Discord messages with the detailed instruction. If you want to know now:

• For forum elections (Prime Minister, Chair of Assembly elections, first round of Delegate elections): Click Reply on a designated thread in the Election Central subforum (Example), click the gear icon on the post creator, then click Insert Template to create the ballot form. Fill in the ballot then click Post. The Election Commissioner will create and declare the voting thread before an election. You can also vote privately by direct messaging your ballot to the Election Commissioner.

• For gameside elections (Second round of the delegate elections): You simply vote using the game's built-in polls on the region page.

Our elections use three different voting methods. Different voting methods have different ballot formats and vote counting methods. Read below to learn more if you are interested.

How do I run for a position in an election?

When an election happens, the forum thread containing the relevant information will be created in the Election Central subforum. If you want to know now:

1. In the nomination period, if you're eligible to run, simply declare your candidacy on a designated forum thread (here is an example).

2. In the campaign period, create a forum thread with a campaign convincing others to vote for you and a Conflict of Interests (CoI) disclosure in the Election Central subforum. Your campaign should reflect the problems that you want to fix, how you are going to fix them, and some nice words to hype up the crowds. You will also face questions from electors in the thread which you should answer. Conflict of interest disclosures are a short summary about your participation in NationStates, both current and former, domestic and abroad. This includes roles you have held, what other regions you're involved in, etc. Here are some examples of successful campaigns with CoI: July 2023 Prime Minister Campaign by ProfessorHenn, July 2023 Delegate Campaign by Griffindor.

The Election Commissioner will create and declare the necessary threads for candidate and CoI declarations before an election.

The best way to boost your election winning chance is to gather experience and recognition by doing something in the government first and/or being active on the region's in-game message board (RMB).

Explain me all the voting methods here

Majority Voting

Voters vote for only one candidate. The candidate with a majority of votes wins, as simple as that. If no one has a majority, the two most-voted candidates move to a runoff with similar rules. Round two of the delegate elections use this method (via the game's built-in regional poll).

Approval voting

Voters can vote for many candidates or for Re-open Nominations (RON). The candidate with the most votes win. If many winners are desired, we take the first most-voted candidate as the first winner, the second most-voted candidate as the second winner, and so on. Round one of the delegate elections and Chair of Assembly elections use this method (via the forum's ballot form). This is a real example of an approval voting ballot.

Instant-runoff voting (IRV)

Voters rank candidates in order of preference on their ballots like this:

1. Mickey Mouse

2. Donald Duck

3. Goofy

This is a real example of an IRV ballot.

After all ballots are casted, the voters' first choices will be counted. If a candidate is ranked first by a majoriry of voters, that candidate wins. If no first-rank majority is found, the candidate ranked first the least is eliminated from all ballots. If many candidates tie for the least-first-rank, the candidate ranked second the least is eliminated. The process then repeat with counting the first-ranks on ballots until a candidate eventually has a majority of first-ranks.

Archive of past elections

Click here.

If you notice any issue on this dispatch, please telegram Coalition of the South Pacific or ping USoVietnam (@watari5292) on the region's Discord server.