The First Annual Presidential Election! Nominations

[Blue]

I am not one to lourde honors and greatness over others because it makes others feel sad and makes me feel like a pile of prejudiced pride. I will keep my introduction as an Electoral Candidate simple and pithy so that my meanings are not lost or misconstrued.

 

I shall declare my Candidacy with myself as the President of the Blue Bold Party.

 

Pleasantfolk, countrymen, urbanites, gamers, kin of every kind, lend my thoughts your mind. Now, this very hour, this very day, we stand on the precipice of a bold new age. An age where the decisions of men and women are forever changing the course of human history as we ride but the first ripples in a terrific wave of change. An age in which computers are shrinking, waters turning afoul, video games becoming shorter, and the young and inventive disappearing amongst the older and reiterative. Some of this change is excellent, some of it is terrible, and it is up to God only knows to make the effects necessary to ensure an outcome we can adore.

Employment gratifies overwork and underpayment, Media glorifies gluttonous consumption and exorbitant destruction, Culture gorges on empty pleasures and temporary gratification, neglecting the nature of this era of change and disregarding the fantastic opportunities we face nearly every moment. These wastes are on the way out, if we are willing to change ourselves, for culture is made of "Us", not "Them".

Our civilization shall quickly sprint towards a new time in civilization where the individual is respected and honored for their inherent brilliance as a thinker, a solver or a creator of new ideas and beauty, where space travel is really freaking cool instead of expensive tottering with explosives, where a person by themselves is encouraged to express themselves, even if few or none acknowledge or appreciate it.

We need to be a part of it. We must commend and command ourselves to ride these tides of change as the internet shall become an inextricable implement of society and culture and bear consideration to the legacy of peoples we talk to or chat to in this hour and in this day, that we may be rational, that we may be accepting, that we may be tolerant, that we may be unselfish, humble, kind, and unafraid of what challenges will face us in the future.

Unavoidably there will be challenges. Those thoughts ingrained and instilled into the insights of internet individuals whose identities have been 'idealized' with irrationality, or rejection, or egotism, or condescension, that they would define themselves above others.

"Nay" I say to those who would resent the mind of nobler ideals to the wond'rous intertubes that we find ourselves frequenting. "Yay" I would say, to these ideals, and bring them forth as representative ideals of this forum, to its members, their conduct, and their Boldness of mind.

 

Truthfully and honestly I say, that I make it my Mission: 'To bring Unity, Trust, Friendship and Peace, to the Accursed Farms, and as direct consequence, every website whom is interacted with thereafter.'

 

Our eloquence and strength of character in excellence, goodness and kindness shall be the token to bear the character of Boldness. Thus our motto shall restate the mission. "Unity, Trust, Friendship & Peace"

[ISGC]

[alphabetagamma]

[Blue]

Also, I would have nominated Alphabetagamma, but then I remembered that his party would be entirely predictable and therefore really easy to overcome.

[alphabetagamma]

Aww come on! Let me have fun Blue! I already have a party planned out!

[Batman]

 

BLUE! BLUE! BLUE! BLUE! BLUE!

 

I just really wanted to put a clapping thing up too, but I was alittle late.

[Blue]

Aww come on! Let me have fun Blue! I already have a party planned out!

It's not like I'm some enabler, you just need a user who is not you to nominate you.

Also the General Secretariat doesn't have the power to deny a party from running if the user is nominated.

[devilk870]

I have no real Person to vote for, but J.C

[Luis]

I'd like to see that list of rules. Maybe you could edit a previously done post so people don't feel intimidated by seeing it on the first one.

[Blue]

'k.

The Accursed Farms Forum Official Presidential Electoral System & Charter of Presidential Freedoms

For the purpose of justly and fairly establishing a President User.

Version 1, Revision 0

Amendments

2011

• 
  VIII.B: Added at the behest of incumbent Moderator Luis (June 17)
  ____
  I.C: Added at the behest of Party Subordinate BTGbullseye, approved by Moderator Alyxx
  I.D: Added at the behest of Party Subordinate BTGbullseye, approved by Moderator Alyxx
  
  • Commentary of addition: Yes, Bullseye, Subordinates have to obey the rules too.

____

Typed by "Blue", June 10th, 2011

 

Article I: User Eligibility

Article II: Process of Election

Article III: The Election Challenge 1. Poster

Article IV: The Election Challenge 2. Review

Article V: The Election Challenge 3. Debate

Article VI: The Election Poll

Article VII: Powers of the Elected and the Defeated

Article VIII: Governing Practices of the Electoral System

 

• For Nominees, Electoral Candidates (Party Leaders, Party Subordinates); Article I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII
  For Users and Voters; Article I, III, IV, V, VI
  For Questioners during the Presidential Debate; Article V
  For Moderators, Administrators and the General Secretariat; Article VIII

 

I. User Eligibility

 

• A. In order for a user to be eligible for Nominee, Electoral Candidate and President, the user Must
  
  • 1. Be a member of the Accursed Farms Forum who has accepted the Forum Rules as stipulated by the Forum main Administrator Ross Scott.
    2. Is not an Administrator or Moderator of the Accursed Farms Forum.
    Users that do not comply with all these rules throughout the process of Nomination and Election will be ineligible for those processes.

 

• B. In order for a user to remain eligible through the course of Nomination, Candidate Campaigning and Election, the user Must Not
  
  • 1. Be banned for misconduct on the Forums against the Forum Rules.
    2. Engage in excessive, inappropriate or unnecessary libel or outrageous behavior against other Nominees or Electoral Candidates, as judged by the Moderators and Administrators of the Accursed Farms Forum.
    3. Become younger than the age of 12 in body, soul or mind.
    4. Detonate weapons of mass destruction in Outer Space, Canada, Europe, or the State of Vermont. Pennsylvania is permissible, but frowned upon.
    Users that do not comply with all these rules throughout the process of Nomination and Election will be ineligible for those processes.

 

• C. In order for a user to be eligible as an Electoral Party Subordinate (including Vice Presidents, Running Mates, Executors or equivalents)
  • 
    1. Be a member of the Accursed Farms Forum who has accepted the Forum Rules as stipulated by the Forum main Administrator Ross Scott.
    2. Be asked permission by the Party Leader in private (via Private Message) or in public (via any current Official Election thread) and agree to participate.
    3. Moderators and Administrators are permitted to be Party Subordinates, but are not allowed to hold the position of Vice President, Running Mate, Executor or equivalent station.

 

• D. In order for a user to remain eligible as an Electoral Party Subordinate (including Vice Presidents, Running Mates, Executors or equivalents)
  • 
    1. Be banned for misconduct on the Forums against the Forum Rules.
    2. Engage in excessive, inappropriate or unnecessary libel or outrageous behavior against other Nominees or Electoral Candidates, as judged by the Moderators and Administrators of the Accursed Farms Forum.
    3. Become younger than the age of 12 in body, soul or mind.
    4. Find any user in real life who is part of the Election race for the purpose of throwing tennis balls at their property.
    5. Moderators and Administrators who become Party Subordinates forego the ability to change this document at will, as well as using their power as authoritative control over the forum for the purpose of actions found in Contempt of Fairness by illegally, corruptly or unfairly benefiting any of the Parties in a Campaign.

 

 

II. Process of Election

The Process of Election consists of three Stages. Nomination, Challenges and lastly, Election.

 

• A. Nomination.
  Nomination takes place at the Initiation of the Years' Election by way of a User declaring themselves the General Secretariat. (The General Secretariat must have a copy of the Accursed Farms Forum Official Presidential Electoral System & Charter of Presidential Freedoms [this document] in order to maintain their position.) The General Secretariat then creates a Thread for the Year's Election Nomination. The nomination period has a maximum length of two Weeks (14 days or 336 hours).
  
  • 1. In order to become a Presidential Election Nominee, a User must be Nominated by another user. This other user may be anyone, as long as it is not the user to be Nominated (eg. a User Nominating him or herself) or an alternate account by the Nominee (eg. a User Nominating him or herself by proxy means). It is acceptable, but frowned upon, for a user to ask for another user to Nominate him or herself (eg. a User Nominating him or herself by indirect proxy means).
    2. users are only allowed to Nominate one (1) Nominee.
    3. In order for a Nominee to stay in the Running, the Nominee must declare themselves Willing and Able to Compete in the Election race (eg. Consent of Nomination).
    4. A Nominee may change their mind and re-declare their Willingness and Ableness to Compete in the Election race, and decide not to compete at any time. However, this disqualifies them from being able to be re-nominated in the Election of that year. They are still allowed to Nominate another User, as well as vote in the final Election poll.
    5. For a Nominee to become an Electoral Candidate, they must create an Electoral Party.

 

• B. Electoral Parties
  
  • 1. An Electoral Party is an individual or group of individuals who work for the expressed purpose of electing a Nominee to the Position of President, as well as any other tasks the individual or group of individuals agree to.
    2. A Party MUST have a name, a mission statement and a motto.
    3. A Party MAY have a Running Mate or Vice President, who can act as Executor on behalf of the Nominee if the User is absent, or if the Nominee drops out of the Election race for whatever reason, the Vice President can assume the office of Leader of the Party. This swap may only happen once per Election year.
    4. A Party MAY have as many as five (5) Subordinate members to the Leader, excluding the Vice President. What these Subordinate members are titled or tasked with are the decisions of the Party Leader. However, Subordinate members are not allowed to be part of more than one (1) party, lest it constitute a Conflict of Interest or Espionage, depending on the scenario.

 

• C. Electoral Candidates
  Officially recognized as 'Candidates' or Party 'Leaders', these users will be the ones actively seeking recognition and popularity in order to garner a favorable opinion of the Forum populace.
  
  • 1. Candidates are allowed to make Signatures and make use of slogans and symbolism in order to generate a distinctive recognition of their party.
    2. Candidates are not allowed to lie or generate unfounded conjecture about slogans and symbolism used by other parties, because this falls under Rule 1 of the Accursed Farms Forum Rules subtext under "Trolling".
    3. The iconography and intellectual property of video games is not constrained to any one party because of free access per reference. (eg. Gordon Freeman or Headcrabs cannot be bound by any one party. Any party can use them if they want, because their Party did not make them. Unless your party is the Erik Wolpaw or Gabe Newell party, which it probably is not.)

 

• D. Election
  The decision of the Election consists of a single thread Poll. Whichever party has the most votes decides which Party is Elected, and which leader becomes the President of the Accursed Farms Forums.
  Three challenges precede the Election in order to bolster the strength, unity and public consciousness of the Electoral Candidates and Parties. These challenges are also worth Points, which hold sway on public opinion due to which party is better at what.
  Overriding all of the Articles on the matter of Official public Party Business are the following:
  
  • 1. No usage of Pornographic, Graphic objectionable material or profanity are allowed. Usage of such material in the Election is disgraceful and unprofessional.
    2. Even though the Election may be considered an alternative jurisdiction of power on the Forums, the Moderators and Administrators still hold Veto power to all matters regarding the conduct of the challenges.

 

 

III. The Election Challenges: 1. Posters

 

• A. On a set Date, the Electoral Parties must submit a Poster depicting anything they wish, as long as it is relevant to their Party or Leader.
  The purpose of this Challenge is the Party and Leader's ability in artistic expression, stylistic and technical knowledge and in persuasive ability.
  
  • 1. The Poster submitted must be equal to or larger than 400x600 pixels and in the format of JPG, PNG, GIF or BMP. TIF, TGA, PIX or Video files will not be accepted due to technical unconventionality. It may be portrait or landscape. The Posters or Pictures must be submitted to the General Secretariat of the Election in order to be distributed to the Judges. The Competition period is two Weeks (14 days or 336 hours) and Judging time is one Week (7 days or 168 hours).
    2. The poster is allowed to be made by the Party Leader, Running Mate or Vice President, or any Subordinate member of the Party.

 

• B. Judging which poster is best will consist of a combined poll of public opinion and Election Secretarial Judges outside the Candidacy (Such as Moderators, Administrators and Users who are not part of the Accursed Farms Forum Populace).
  
  • 1. The Party whose poster is voted Best will win five (5) points. Second place will win three (3) points, and Third place will win one (1) point.
    2. Candidates are not forbidden from showing their posters or pictures before the announcement of winners, but are discouraged from doing so as it may result in their poster or picture being mocked, parodied or duplicated by other Parties.
    3. The Criteria for the judging of posters will be
    
    • a. Originality (How original the poster is in content)
      b. Ingenuity (Cleverness, wit or humor in the poster)
      c. Compellingness (Strength and influence of the message it has towards the party it supports (or against the parties it does not)
      d. Composition (Placement, organization, flow and/or motion of the visual elements of the poster)

 

 

IV. The Election Challenges: 2. Review

 

• A. On a Set Date, the Electoral Parties must submit a text-based Review of anything they wish (as long as it is within the boundaries of the Forum Rules and Article II.D.1 and II.D.2) such as a movie, video game or book. It does not have to be relevant to their Party or Leader.
  The purpose of this Challenge is the Party and Leader's ability in creative writing, description, analysis, interpretation and literary technique.
  
  • 1. The Review must be longer than 1500 words and be properly punctuated and spell-checked. Supplementary pictures are allowed. The Reviews must be submitted to the General Secretariat of the Election in order to be distributed to the Judges. The Competition period is two Weeks (14 days or 336 hours) and Judging time is one Week (7 days or 168 hours).
    2. Plagiarizing existing reviews will result in a disqualification from this Challenge and subtract two points from the offending Party.
    3. The poster is allowed to be made by the Party Leader, Running Mate or Vice President, or any Subordinate member of the Party.

 

• B. Judging which review is best will consist of a combined poll of public opinion and Election Secretarial Judges outside the Candidacy (Such as Moderators, Administrators and Users who are not part of the Accursed Farms Forum Populace).
  
  • 1. The Party whose review is voted Best will win five (5) points. Second place will win three (3) points, and Third place will win one (1) point.
    2. Candidates are not forbidden from showing their reviews before the announcement of winners, but are discouraged from doing so.
    3. The Criteria for the judging of reviews will be
    
    • a. Creativity (Literary expressiveness and emotional inflection in the review as to how likable it is)
      b. Quality (Metric of communicative ability, logic and vocal effectiveness)
      c. Interestingness (How engaging the review is)
      d. Readability (Spelling and grammatical correctness)

 

 

V. The Election Challenges: 3. Debate

 

• A. On a Set Date, the General Secretariat will create a Thread for the Election Debate.
  The Purpose of this Challenge is to establish each Party's and Leader's intentions if elected, their stance on controversial matters relevant to the Forum Populace and the differences they will make in the future. It is the decision of the Leader how seriously to take this Challenge, but be reminded of the Electoral Process's compliance with the Forum Rules, Article II.C.2, Article II.D.1 and Article II.D.2.
  
  • 1. Questions are allowed to be asked by the Public, which the Party Leaders should answer. There are no restrictions as to which users are allowed to ask questions, or what topic the questions are about as long as they comply with the Forum Rules. Users are encouraged to only ask one question at a time, permitting at least one and if possible, all, Party Leaders to respond to their query.
    2. Party Leaders are allowed to ask other Party Leaders questions in the same manner as the Public on the Election Debate Thread.
    3. Rickrolling is not permitted by any participant of the Debate; Public Questioners Party Leaders, Party Subordinates etc.

 

• B. The Party Leader with the Best Debating skills will be decided by a public tally (consisting of Public users who are not Party Leaders or Party Subordinates posting on the Election Debate Thread).
  
  • 1. Members of the Forum Populace will post their opinion of the best debater with a post consisting of anything they wish to state, as long as the post starts with the statement "I believe [Party Leader or Party Name] is the best Debater this year."
    2. The General Secretariat will count the posts and the Party or Party Leader with the most is voted the Best of the Debate Challenge; The Party who is voted Best will win five (5) points. Second place will win three (3) points, and Third place will win one (1) point.
    3. If there is a tie, both Parties will win the same amount of points as the rung below their tieing position. (eg. Two tied for First will both earn three (3) points for second, two tied for Second will both earn one (1) point for Third, two tied for Third will neither receive points.
    4. Members of the Forum Populace are recommended to judge their opinions of the Parties by the following metrics:
    
    • a. Enjoyability (How likable, charismatic and interesting the Party and its Leader are)
      b. Interest (How the matters of importance to the Party and Leader are relevant to you and your interests)
      c. Relevance (How the matters of importance to the Party and Leader are relevant to your perception of the Forum Populace)
      d. Authority (Capability of the Party and Leader to execute their intentions and stance on controversial matters, and trustworthiness)

5. The Debate Period is two Weeks (14 days or 336 hours) before the end of official debating, after which time user posts on their opinion of the best debater will be gathered. The cutoff for gathering these opinions is one Week (7 days or 168 hours).

 

 

VI. The Election Poll

 

• A. On a Set Date, the General Secretariat will create a Thread for the Election Poll.
  On the Thread will be a maximum of eight (8) Electoral Parties and Leaders. In the thread it will be stated as a summary which parties earned the most points in the challenges. However the points themselves have no direct bearing on the Vote. They are to indicate the respective Party's skills in different things.
  
  • 1. The thread will allow voting for one Week (7 days or 168 hours). All users except the Party Leaders are encouraged to Vote for the Candidate which they feel is the best to become President of the Forums. (Likewise, Users are discouraged from not voting.)
    2. Party Leaders are not allowed to Vote. If an Party Leader votes in this poll, all votes for their Party will be Nullified and their Party will be Disqualified.
    3. Users are strongly discouraged from changing their vote once it has been cast.
    4. After one Week, the Party with the most votes in the Poll is declared the winner, and the Electoral Candidate that was the Party Leader is automatically declared the President of the Accursed Farms Forums.
    5. Once the President has been declared, the Electoral System is completed.

 

• B. The Electoral System may not be restarted for at least 365 days after the initiation of the present years' Nomination stage. There is no consequence for restarting it later than 365 days.

 

 

VII. Powers of the Elected and the Defeated

 

• A. After the Election, the Forums will carry on as usual. The powers, position, responsibilities and rights of the President include the following:
  
  • 1. The Forum Populace is encouraged to address the President as Mr. President, Ms. President, Mrs. President, President [username], [username] the President of the Forums or any combination thereof as they see fit.
    2. The President is entitled to exactly one right and power, and that is to be able to declare one thing to one user: This user must be either an Administrator, Moderator or the General Secretariat. The Declaration is allowed to be anything they wish, be it insult or compliment, as long as the declaration is in text form and is not a hotlink or URL. This declaration and who it is addressed to will be recorded by the General Secretariat for History-keeping, unless it is a statement made in a Private Message.
    3. The President immediately and automatically relinquishes his power, position and title upon the creation of the next Election Poll Thread.
    4. The President retains the right to remove him or herself from power, nullifying the position of President until a new President is elected.
    5. The Moderators and Administrators retain the right to remove the President from power, nullifying the position of President until a new President is elected, if the incumbent President is banned, or, if six months (at least 170 days) pass without the elected user posting on the Accursed Farms.
    6. The President is responsible for maintaining a representative and ambassadorial position to any user, both new and old, whenever he or she posts on the Accursed Farms, or as President posting on another forum. (eg. Presidential Consequence of Representation)

 

• B. Defeated Parties and Party Leaders
  
  • 1. Upon the declaration of the President, all other Parties are immediately and automatically disbanded on an Official basis. They are allowed to continue in an unofficial capacity until the next Nomination.
    2. Once disbanded, Electoral Candidates are automatically regular users.
    3. If an Electoral Candidate or Party Subordinate happens to meet the incumbent President of the Forums in real life, they are allowed to throw one (1) tomato at them, unless otherwise stated by National or International Law.

 

VIII. Governing Practices of the Electoral System

 

• A. Moderators and Administrators
  
  • 1. Users that are Moderators and Administrators retain the right to change any component of this System and Charter at any time for any reason.
    2. The General Secretariat retains the right to change any component of this System and Charter at any time with the permission of the previous General Secretariat and anyone else who cares.
    3. If you read this rule, the General Secretariat is obliged but not mandated to thank you for actually taking the time to read this.
    4. The President is allowed to request changes to any component of this System and Charter at any time as long as it is compliant with Article VIII.A.2.
    5. The General Secretariat retains the right to add anything they wish to the expansion components under Revision, Amendments or Additional Articles.

 

• B. Conflicts of Power
  
  • 1. In the event that a General Secretariat is Nominated and accepts a position of Candidacy, all revisions made to This document are subject to the permission (or request) of Moderators and Administrators, lest additions or edits be found in Contempt of Fairness by illegally, corruptly or unfairly benefiting any of the Parties in a Campaign.

 

J.C., please note that these rules were written before I made this thread, so Article I.B.4 you might think shot you in the foot before you even made your party, and you would not have made such a mission statement or motto had you read the rules. For which reasons I apologize as General Secretariat, and point out that The Internet is not stipulated against nukes, and that you also have the freedom to revise your mission statement if you wish.

Edited November 25, 2015 by Guest (see edit history)

[Luis]

As you, Blue are the General Secretariat AND a candidat for president I'd like you to make an Oath in which you promise calling upon God, Goku, Chuck Norris and/or Ross Scott or what you consider sacred not to use the powers given to you by The Accursed Farms Forum Official Presidential Electoral System & Charter of Presidential Freedoms (including it's free modification at your will according to Articles VIII.A.2 and VIII.A.4) to illegally, corruptly or unfairly benefit any of the parties in this campaign.

 

Thanks

[Blue]

Done. However I do not wish to take an oath. If I were to do so upon what I hold sacred, it would be hipocrisy:

"Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'..." - Matthew 5:37.

Let it be stated that there is a consensus of trust and honesty in the declaration of this matter.

[ISGC]

he's so loquacious!

BOLD BLUE FOR PRESIDENT

[Axeldeath]

4. Detonate weapons of mass destruction in Outer Space, Canada, Europe, or the State of Vermont. Pennsylvania is permissible, but frowned upon.

Users that do not comply with all these rules throughout the process of Nomination and Election will be ineligible for those processes

 

3. Rickrolling is not permitted by any participant of the Debate; Public Questioners Party Leaders, Party Subordinates etc

 

You guys are so uptight.

[Blue]

4. Detonate weapons of mass destruction in Outer Space, Canada, Europe, or the State of Vermont. Pennsylvania is permissible, but frowned upon.

Users that do not comply with all these rules throughout the process of Nomination and Election will be ineligible for those processes

 

3. Rickrolling is not permitted by any participant of the Debate; Public Questioners Party Leaders, Party Subordinates etc

 

You guys are so uptight.

Am not. Are you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ssh71hePR8Q sympathizers so uncreative that you have to have loopholes pointed out to you?

From such supporters one can't expect much of his platform. On Voting day, vote for the Bold party.

[BTGBullseye]

Oh come on... Nobody nominated me?!?

 

Ok, I'll nominating Doom Shepherd...

[Epsilon]

I nominate Epsilon for Candidacy in the Presidential Election.

 

I'm not very good with speeches, so... I'll make this as concise as I possibly can.

 

I believe that if I remain as a regular User, and not President of the Accursed Forums, then I will be able to easily continue to attempt to remove from the Accursed Forums this Brony thorn-in-our-sides that has festered for too long. If I did accept the honor of becoming President of the Accursed Forums, then my responsibilities would be too great, therefore deterring me from defending our beloved forums from the scourge known as alphabetagamma. It was my honor to be nominated by the one whose idea it was to nominate a president, but I politely decline this offer.

 

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen of the Accursed Forums.

 

(If anyone's wondering where Blue nominated me, it was in my "Call to arms against alphabetagamma" thread.)

[J.C.]

I'm hereby nominating alphabetagamma. We need some ponies up in this joint.

 

 

Am not. Are you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ssh71hePR8Q sympathizers so uncreative that you have to have loopholes pointed out to you?

From such supporters one can't expect much of his platform. On Voting day, vote for the Bold party.

My supporters are best referred to as lethal.

[alphabetagamma]

I'm hereby nominating alphabetagamma. We need some ponies up in this joint.

I must prepare!

[Doom Shepherd]

Oh come on... Nobody nominated me?!?

 

Ok, I'll nominating Doom Shepherd...

 

*Yawns*

 

Wait... WHAT?!??!

 

Oh, Great Maker...

 

FINE.

 

Someone remind me what I'm supposed to do next.