Advisory Board Elections

The Advisory Board of the RunnerHub is formed by a democratic process outlined as follows.

Elections are held twice a year (see schedule). All Advisory Board members are typically elected in the same election. If an Advisory Board member must step down, the next runner-up will replace them if possible, according to the adjusted election scores.

Voting System

Voting is conducted via OpaVote using the Scottish Single Transferable Vote. A complete explanation of the Scottish Single Transferable Vote system can be found in text form here or in video form here.

The short version is: If your preferred candidate is elected, they are locked in and the % of your vote that was in excess is given to your next choice. If no candidate has enough votes, the bottom candidate is eliminated. If the eliminated candidate was your top remaining choice, all your remaining vote is transferred to your next choice.

This system is designed to eliminate conflicting incentives in voting strategy and to support proportional representation. Therefore, the best voting strategy is just to rank the candidates in order of which you’d most like to see elected.

Voting Eligibility

Members are eligible to vote if they are an active GM, an active staff member, or both. Each eligible member is granted a single vote to cast in the election.

Advisory Board Eligibility

Advisory Board Members are nominated from active staff and GMs, with the following exceptions:

Heads of a division
Election Official (if not Upkeep Head)
Members not in good standing (via Interpersonal Division)

Audits

In the month leading up to the start of nominations, each Division must complete an audit of their Division Member activity to determine who meets the criteria of being an Active Member of the Division. Thematics Division must also audit GM activity. Inactive Division Members and GMs should be removed at this time, so that they are not present in the election channels during the election and do not receive ballots. The division heads (or a proxy they previously designate) must communicate the results of each audit to Upkeep before nominations can begin.

Schedule

The target dates for the start of nominations are May 22nd (for the mid-year election) and November 21st (for the end-of-year election). Upkeep may delay this date if necessary to receive audits and to better align with staff availability. Nomination procedures will be posted in the ShadowSea Subreddit and reminders will be sent via instant messaging (currently Discord).

Nominations will remain open for 1 week or as long as necessary to obtain enough nominations. Once nominations are closed, Upkeep Division and Interpersonal Division will verify that all of the nominees are still eligible and willing. If any are not, and there are therefore not enough nominations, nominations may be reopened. Normally this should only take 1-3 days.

Once all nominees are confirmed, Upkeep’s Election Official will initiate the election via OpaVote and send the ballot links to each member. Voting will remain open for at least 1 week and no more than 3 weeks, depending on scheduling.

When voting closes, votes will be tallied and the winners announced. New Advisory Board members will be granted access to the Advisory Board systems. Departing Advisory Board members may remain in the role for up to 1 month to facilitate transition but are no longer permitted to vote on Advisory Board issues.

Amendments to the Election Procedures

The Election Procedures can be amended if the Upkeep head agrees and the Advisory Board agrees by majority vote (greater than 50%).