The 'Shroom:Issue LI/Poll Chairperson Election

Poll Committee Chairperson Election

Sunday, 23 May 2010, a proposal concerning several changes in our current Main Page was accepted by the community and passed. This proposal can be viewed here.

One point this proposal addressed was the creation of a Poll committee, a selected group of users to create and select polls to feature on the Main Page. The members of this committee are meant to be selected by a person in charge of the committee, the Poll Committee Chairperson, who shall be elected by the community. The second annual Poll Committee Chaiperson Election is taking place here.

What does the Chairperson do?
As the person in charge of the Poll Committee, the Chairperson holds several responsibilities. The essential obligations of the Chairperson are listed below.

The Poll Committee Chairperson...
 * ...needs to select six users who will, together with the Chairperson, form the Poll Committee. These six users should be trusted members of the community.
 * ...needs to select one of these six users to be their surrogate. The surrogate will replace the Chairperson in case they are not able to hold their position anymore.
 * ...should suggest, discuss, and vote on polls in a sub-forum exclusively for the Poll Committee. These polls should be appropriate and not be detrimental for the Mario Wiki's reputation. A forum account is required for the position of the Chairperson, as well as for every other member of the committee.
 * ...should be active. They should be able to cast a vote every two weeks. If a decision cannot be made, the Chairperson holds the right to abstain from voting (the committee needs to be informed of this abstain however). Repeated failure to cast a vote or abstain might result in a loss of the chair position.
 * ...holds the right to suggest the dismissal of a certain committee member if said member does not uphold their responsibilities properly. A vote among all committee members will then commence. If three other members agree with the suggestion, the member in question will be dismissed. The Chairperson then has to select another user to take their place.
 * ...will keep their position for one year, provided that nothing out of the ordinary happens. After that period, a new Chairperson will be elected. The old Chairperson holds the right to attend this election as a candidate once again and thus has the chance to be elected for another year.

If you think you might be a suitable candidate for this position, you can enter this election as a candidate.

How do I become a Chairperson?
To become the Poll Committee's Chairperson, you need to be elected by the Mario Wiki Community. For this matter, you can campaign in the election below. You can join the election as a candidate at any time, except if the election reaches Overtime. If you are interested, follow these steps to nominate yourself:

===Your Name=== Your reason why you should become the Chairperson

Votes

 * You can enter the election by filling out this form and posting it below. New campaigns go to the bottom of the page.
 * You can only nominate yourself. Entering someone other than you in this election will not be tolerated.
 * Make sure your campaign has reasonable grammar, so people can understand what you are trying to say.
 * After your campaign is set, people might add their votes to the Vote section of your campaign. As a user of the Mario Wiki, you have a vote as well, and you are allowed to vote for yourself.
 * If you have the most votes by the end of the election, you will become the new Chairperson. If there is a tie by the end of the election, it will continue between the candidates with the highest amounts of votes for one week. This procedure is called Overtime. If there is still a tie by the end of the new deadline, the election will once again be extended by one week. Overtime continues until one candidate has the highest amount of votes.
 * Please take this matter seriously! Joke campaigns and profanity will be removed without warning. Additional steps might be taken against violators of this rule.

How do I vote here?
You can vote by going to the Vote section of a campaign and add this form to it. Remember to replace “Name” with your actual user name. # Alternatively, a user may cast an anonymous vote by using the form below. Note that people may see who voted anonymously when viewing the page history. You can only vote for one person at a time. If the election reaches Overtime and your candidate gets eliminated, you can cast another vote for the remaining candidates if you like.
 * 1) X

Debates
A debate is being planned. The exact date at this point is unknown. Once it is determined, then this page will be updated with the necessary details.

If there are still questions left, feel free to ask one of Mario Wiki's admins.

It is currently , 27 (EST/EDT) This election ends July 16th 20:00 (EST/EDT)

Qualifications
I'm sure I may seem familiar to most viewing this page. To those who do not recognize me, I am the incumbent Poll Committee Chairperson. I am throwing my hat in the ring to be reelected to the post.

My experience in the community includes, but is not limited to:
 * Super Mario Wiki
 * Wiki Sysop
 * Forum Global Moderator
 * Chat Manager
 * The 'Shroom Director
 * Poll Chairperson
 * Userpedia
 * Wiki Steward
 * Wiki Bureaucrat
 * Wiki Sysop
 * Forum Administrator
 * Chat Operator
 * Disconnected Sub-director

...And as mentioned above, there is a lot more I could include to demonstrate that I have been in positions of management, leadership, and representation, but I feel what I have listed will sufficiently show this. But here is where I must state how I will continue to follow the qualifications that the Poll Chairperson must meet and how I will change the way I do things to further meet them:
 * If elected, the members of the Committee (,, , , , and ) will remain on the team. They have excelled at their jobs and should be commended for what and how they contribute to the Committee's discussion and work.
 * will remain Vice-Chairman (my surrogate), and will succeed to the position of Chairperson if, in any case, I must resign.
 * I will actively take part in the Poll Committee discussion. However, I will not take an active role in suggesting polls or voting in them. This is because I feel that it is my job to lead (and not run) the Committee. This means that anything that does not require direct executive intervention should not be intervened with. The current Poll Committee members have been doing an awesome job at nominating and voting, and they should continue without me interfering. However, I will still carry out tie-breaking votes or other kind of necessary votes that will ensure a poll being put on the Main Page every other week.
 * As mentioned above, my position is one of not interfering with the everyday goings of the Committee. This means that I have an implied abstention unless my vote is needed. I will, however, as stated above, actively discuss polls, make suggestions to proposed polls, and bring up concerns with anything going on.
 * In all my time as Poll Chairperson, I have not had to directly dismiss a member of the Poll Committee (one had deleted his forum account and was removed by default, and the other resigned shortly before announcing his retirement). The current members have not shown to be any sort of problem to the progress of the Committee, so I do not expect to have to remove any of them from their position. However, if it becomes necessary that I remove a member and select a replacement, then I will do so.
 * I will keep this position for another year if elected. Whenever things got hectic for me, Stooben Rooben was able to step in and help, and the Committee continued to work diligently. So no matter what, there will always be somebody here to lead the Committee.

Vice-Chairman Candidate: Stooben Rooben
My nomination for Poll Committee Vice-Chairperson is Stooben Rooben. As was mentioned the last time we both ran, he is a well-known member of the community and has always been willing to help out in processes and projects. He is responsible and has been there when I have needed him the most... He is qualified to hold this position again, and anybody who could argue otherwise is most certainly wrong. If I had to step down or lose my position for whatever reason, I trust that Stooben would be able to pick up where I left off and would be able to lead the Committee well.

Here is an incomplete list of positions that Stooben Rooben holds. There are many other things worth mentioning, but again, I feel this list will still speak for his overall being qualified for the position:
 * Super Mario Wiki
 * Wiki Bureaucrat
 * Wiki Sysop
 * In Charge of the Forum
 * Chat Operator
 * The 'Shroom Affiliates Manager
 * Poll Vice-Chairperson
 * Userpedia
 * Wiki Steward
 * Wiki Bureaucrat
 * Wiki Sysop
 * Forum Administrator

So yes, thank you all, and please be sure to vote for us!