Election

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Revision as of 13:48, 29 July 2006 by Nicholas (talk | contribs) (→‎Your Rights: voting is no longer an inalienable right)
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Overview

All the leaders in BattleMaster are chosen by the troop leaders of that realm -- not by game mechanics, and not by the GM or the Titans. Sometimes this is an indirect process, as when an elected Ruler appoints a General. But many positions, and all Rulers are chosen by elections, and all the troop leaders in a realm are eligible to vote.

Voting

On the Paperwork page, there is a section on setting your votes. An Election in BattleMaster occurs at the turn change, just like battles and travel, so you need to have your votes set ahead of time. BattleMaster uses a variation of the Borda Count voting system. This system is very easy to understand, yet fairer and more versatile than the more common single vote system. Instead of one vote for one candidate, you can choose up to three candidates, in order of preference (your first candidate will receive the most points from your vote).

On election day, all points are converted into votes. All this is done by the game itself, so you don't have to worry about it. But here are the details if you want to know how it works: First, your maximum vote is calculated. This depends on the government system. In a monarchy, it's your prestige rating. In a democracy or tyranny, it is 4 for everyone. In a republic, it's 20 for city commanders and 4 for everyone else. Now your first candidate gets as many votes as your maximum vote score. Your second candidate gets half that, your third half again (that's why the value is 4 above). If you vote for yourself or any member of your family, your votes are halved. All fractions are rounded mathematically, but it is always at least 1 vote (e.g. voting for yourself third slot in a monarchy means 1 vote for yourself, not one-eighths).

Note that you can not vote for people with less than 5 prestige unless your realm has broken down into anarchy. You can vote for people with 5-10 prestige, even though they might not be eligible. You can even vote for people who refuse rulership. After all, they might change their mind or their prestige might rise until election day. But if it doesn't, your vote is wasted.

All the elected positions for your realm are listed in its own column with your three choices visible.

Election Triggers

There are two basic circumstances which trigger an election: automatic monthly elections such as in Democracies, or ad hoc elections to fill a vacant (elected) position. (Not all vacant positions are elected; in many systems certain positions are appointed by the ruler.)

There are several things which will cause a person to lose his position, and so prompt an ad hoc election:

In special cases, leaders can be protested out by the troop leaders of the realm, or removed from office by the Titans for violation of the game rules or abuse of authority.

In all cases, there is at least one turn in which the position is left vacant, to give the realm's troop leaders time to set their voting on the Paperwork page, and to give them an opportunity to decide whether they wish to decline that position before voting takes place. A troop leader's votes are counted if he is idle, but not if he is wounded or in prison.