What Happened With the CDS Elections?

By Bixyl Shuftan

It wasn't quite "Suppose they gave an election and nobody came." But the number of people who did was, less than expected.

On May the Fifth, the campaign for the Confederation of Democratic Simulators election was supposed to begin. But there was a problem. There were five open seats for the Representative Assembly, but only five people announced they were running. It was the same story for the Chancellorship in which there was only one declared candidate.  Lilith Ivory announced the news in the community's group.


Usually at this time campaigning starts, but with only 5 RA candidates for 5 seats and only one chancellor candidate there are no real elections necessary.

The members of the 29th RA are:
Bagheera Kristan
Lady Kiki Whatever (inekeb)
Laura Azalee
Rosie Gray
Tanoujin Milestone

Chancellor for the 29th term is:
Hannah Marie Bloodtempestwolf (han.held)

Congratulations and thank you for your willingness to serve.

I had a few words with the Chancellor-elect (by default), Hannah Marie Tempestwolf (Han Held), ": Hiya! Sadly, we only had one candidate for each of the open seats (5 candidates for 5 RA slots, one candidate for Chancellor) so we wound up deciding the election and giving it to the folks who offered to run for office. ... Trying to increase participation is an on-going issue we deal with. We have roughly 64 people but a lot of them don't run for office."

Hannah wondered if perhaps there was simply a lack of interest in politics by the local residents this time, "A lot of people come for the scenery and the quiet, I think, which is both flattering and vexing, especially around election time (smile)."

Hannah stated she would have more to say later on once she's officially in office, " I don't want to step on Rosie (Gray)'s toes, and she's still our Chancellor."

Current Chancellor Rosie Gray would also have a few things to say, "This time we didn't have an actual vote, because the numbers of people running for election were the same as the number required for the RA and for Chancellor.  So, this means everyone is acclaimed. ... it's in many ways similar to getting people in real life to participate in elections, to run for office, and offer their time (in) municipal elections, that sort of thing. It is a giving back to your community, without reward, at least in the CDS that's essentially it. And of course, many people aren't in SL to do anything like that, they primarily want a nice place to live and let other people figure out how to manage it. So in the last number of years there have been quite a few times when people have been acclaimed."

Rosie reminded that she might be stepping down as Chancellor, but not out of CDS politics, "I am until the end of the month, then I am on the Representative Assembly (smile), because I'm one of those people that likes to participate! And I also believe that if you don't participate, then you get what you get, and really can't complain about anything"

When asked to sum up her term, Rosie answered, "This term has been quiet. We've had a fun event each month. We've initiated a new building project that will make a big difference in the Neufreistadt region. And other than that, it has been a day to day administration of people's comings and goings. So not a particularly eventful six months." And what did she anticipate of Hannah as leader? "It will be interesting to see what Han brings to the position of Chancellor," the current leader answered, "as she hasn't done it before. I know she has some different ideas that she'd like to initiate.  Of course the Chancellor needs to have the RA ratification on anything that is really different. It will be a learning curve for her, but I'm sure she is up to it!"

 And so this round of elections in the CDS this month has become a formality due to the small number of people stepping up for public office. Will the public of the community be satisfied with the work of those getting the position by default, or wish others had also stepped up so the candidates would have to explain their intentions and how they planned to carry them out? Time will tell, and in six months they'll have another chance.

Bixyl Shuftan