6.7 Elections, Referendums, and Politics

An ELECTION in Achaea takes place when someone who does not hold a particular position (such as houselord or Archon) decides that he or she wants to challenge someone currently in that position (or to seek to fill a vacancy in that position). The person challenged must be in the same house or city (whichever is relevant) to the person doing the challenging. The command to challenge another player's position is CONTEST (syntax is listed below).

The current city leader, who is also a member of the ruling council, is immune and may not be contested.

In order to begin an election in a house, only one challenger is needed. In order to begin an election in a city, three challengers must be found before an election may take place (which includes the person currently holding the position). Only two challengers are needed for vacant positions in cities.

A REFERENDUM differs from an election only in that it is not about a particular position of power.

It should be noted that the command ELECTION (or ELECTIONS) may be substituted for REFERENDUM (or REFERENDUMS) where applicable. (In other words, in an election, use ELECTION and in a referendum use REFERENDUM). Also note than all times relating to elections are in Achaean time.


WHO CAN CALL A REFERENDUM
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A referendum is called by someone in power (be it a God, a Houselord or Secretary, or a member of the ruling council of a city) who defines what the referendum is about, how long it will last for, and what the choices in the referendum are. In the case of Orders, that would be the Patron or the Divine Assistant only.


COMMANDS FOR EVERYBODY
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REFERENDUM LIST (or just REFERENDUMS)
   - Lists the current referendums or elections that are relevant to you.

REFERENDUM <#> SUMMARY
   - See a summary of a particular referendum or election.

REFERENDUM <#> CHOICES
   - See a list of the choices in a particular referendum or election.

REFERENDUM <#> VOTE FOR <choice#/choice>
   - Vote in a referendum or election.
   - There are requirements that must be met in order to vote:
   City: You must have played at least 50 hours, and be at least level 30.
   House: You must be at least house rank 5.
   Public: You must have played at least 100 hours.
   - You can change your vote before the election or referendum is over by simply voting again.
   - Using multiple alts in the same organisation to vote for the same person is considered a breach of HELP SECONDS. Please don't do it.

REFERENDUM <#> ABSTAIN
   - Officially abstain from voting. 
   - Abstention only counts if you meet normal voting requirements.

REFERENDUM <#> RESULTS
   - See the results of a referendum or election.


THREE WAYS TO CONTEST
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CONTEST <person> AS <position> OF <city or house name> [REASON]
CONTEST VACANT AS <position> OF <city or house name>
CONTEST <person> AS HEAD OF <clan> [REASON] (if the clan is democratic) 

The default reason for contesting is performance. Optionally you may specify performance, retiring, or dormant. This will change the text in the election message. This option only applies to the first person to contest creating the election. 

All contests cost the challenger 10,000 gold.
You must be at least house level 5 in your house to contest a houselord.

Examples:
   CONTEST GRANDUE AS ARCHON OF ASHTAN RETIRING
   CONTEST HEMNIF AS HEAD OF COOLCLAN DORMANT
   CONTEST VACANT AS REGENT OF HASHAN

In order to drop out of an election the syntax ELECTION <#> REMOVE CHOICE <choice> will be useful.


COMMANDS FOR THOSE IN POWER
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REFERENDUM CREATE FOR CITY|CLAN name|COUNCIL|HOUSE|ORDER|PUBLIC
   - Create a referendum.
   - For orders, only the Patron or Divine Assistant may create referenda.

REFERENDUM <#> TITLE
   - Give a referendum a title.

REFERENDUM <#> DESCRIPTION
   - Give a referendum a description.

REFERENDUM <#> ADD <choice>
   - Add a voting option to a referendum.
   - Max length for a choice is 70 characters.

REFERENDUM <#> REMOVE <choice>
   - Remove a voting option from a referendum.
   - Note that this does not move existing choices around, so if you have choices 1, 2, and 3, and remove 2, then you will now have choices 1 and 3 (no 2). And if you then add a new choice, it'll be choice 4.

REFERENDUM <#> OPEN
   - Open the voting on a referendum.

REFERENDUM <#> CLOSE
   - Close the voting early on a referendum

REFERENDUM <#> CLOSE IN <x> <days/months/years>
   - Set the number of days, months, or years before the referendum will end. This is Achaean days, Achaean months, or Achaean years.