Re: [ga] withdrawal of candidacy

[Eric Weisberg <weisberg@texoma.net>]

 Ken Stubbs wrote:

> am i to assume then that the vote i cast is for naught .

That is an interesting question.  Harald suggests that this case is not covered
by the rules, but should be resolved by having your vote count exactly as you
would have cast it had Jonathan not been in the race (i.e. that the election
proceed with the current ballot, but that his votes would be ignored in ranking
your preferences under STV).  Others have suggested that this situation is
analogous to that in which the deceased Carnahan beat the living Ashcroft in the
Missouri senate race--e.g. that Jonathan's votes must be counted as if he were a
viable candidate, and, should he "win," that result will be taken as  "none of
the above."

Treating the NC as "governor" acting upon a clean slate would frustrate the NC's
reported desire to appoint someone approved by a vote of the GA.  But, some are
objecting to the loss of options for voters who preferred Jonathan.  His
candidacy may have kept others from running who would have appealed to the same
constituency.   Neither option--taking the "second" choice or vesting "clean
slate" discretion in the NC--may be satisfactory from their point of view.
Their concerns may only be met by starting the process again, from nominations
to voting.

This issue must be resolved by the NC which created the election structure and
time table.  But, it is something we can address by suggesting a rule to cover
this and similar cases.



--
This message was passed to you via the ga@dnso.org list.
Send mail to majordomo@dnso.org to unsubscribe
("unsubscribe ga" in the body of the message).
Archives at http://www.dnso.org/archives.html