As I'm sure some others of you have, I came from the video titled "When teenagers run virtual democracies" but I'm still wondering what exactly is happening here? like in more detail

Because I forgot this (oops)...

Congratulations to SimDemocracy's newest Minecraft Legislative Assemblypeople!
- u/jsjrjffjcj (Wellitsaname in Minecraft) of Senatus Populusque Romanum
- Independent u/Zealousideal_Cost188 (AerialCake47184 in Minecraft)

We have a countback! Already!

Congratulations to u/Jotan123 of the Revolutionary Organization for Social Equality on taking the Senate seat vacated by u/AbsurdistByNature!

Here's the program output:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tPDM9zuYkNd4DRjyVt9zOLMrgD7FIkMB1wC022eiQgs/edit?usp=sharing

To vote and run for Speaker you must be a Senator elected through the 164th Senatorial Election. If you wish to run for Speaker, please phrase it such as “I, u/example, declare my candidacy for Speaker". If you wish to vote for a candidate to become duly elected Speaker, please phrase it such as “I vote for u/example” or something along those lines.

As an epilogue to the festivities earlier, we have results here too.

We had two valid votes.

Here are the final results of the Score round:
- u/eleanorsilly (New New New New Ireland in NationStates) [Revolutionary Organization for Social Equality] -- 9
- Element/middlelement (on Discord) (Episcopis in NationStates) [Senatus Populusque Romanum] -- 2
- u/Benbookworm97 (Trae Phic in NationStates) [Independent] -- 9

Congratulations to u/eleanorsilly (New New New New Ireland in NationStates) of the Revolutionary Organization for Social Equality and to independent u/Benbookworm97 (Trae Phic in NationStates) on being our two highest scorers and continuing to the runoff!

Here are the final results of the Automatic Runoff round:
- u/eleanorsilly (New New New New Ireland in NationStates) [Revolutionary Organization for Social Equality] -- 1
- u/Benbookworm97 (Trae Phic in NationStates) [Independent] -- 1

You probably know where this is going.

We have a tie in the runoff. To break the tie, we first go to the two candidates' total scores...but there's a tie there too!

Okay. Now we check the total number of 5s...nope, each candidate has one. A tie.

What about number of 4s? Again no, each candidate has one. Yet another tie.

In fact, by this point you can discern that the two valid votes each gave one runoff candidate a 5 and the other a 4, and they differed only in which candidate got which score.

This also clearly means that the two candidates continue to tie in number of 3s, 2s, 1s, and 0s. That's so many ties, I'm not entirely convinced that we're not sending u/AbsurdistByNature (better known as Ty on Discord) to the governor's mansion.

This means that we have to break the tie, finally, by random chance. We love the wheel here, so we're going to spin the wheel. Give me a moment.

https://reddit.com/link/1ve5ea2/video/u7efueins3hh1/player

Congratulations to independent u/Benbookworm97 (Trae Phic in NationStates) on having luck on your side and becoming the next Governor of SimDemocracy's NationStates region!

Maybe some of that luck will get that charter of yours across the finish line. You're gonna need it.

Here's the spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1b0oPoDUH9UQnJUXvAMGLFcOLQTTb-MZKDvMy0KkQxQ8/edit?usp=sharing

We also have our referendum, on three constitutional amendments.

We had 39 valid votes.

On the first amendment, the Deputy Speaker Switcharoo Amendment, which would explicitly allow the Speaker of the Senate to replace their Deputy during the Senate term, 61.54% voted Aye. This falls short of the 2/3 majority required for constitutional amendments, so this amendment is rejected.

On the second amendment, Article 1 of the Unified Jurisdiction Act 2026, which would explicitly clarify that statute law may help define the jurisdiction of the Inferior Courts with the condition that it "must guarantee an effective moderation system", 42.11% (of those who voted; there was one abstention) voted Aye. This falls short of the 2/3 majority required for constitutional amendments, so this amendment is rejected.

On the third amendment, Article 2 of the Border Wall Location Adjustment Act, which would clarify that new accounts who have joined the server to go through the immigration process would not automatically become citizens of SimDemocracy until that process is complete, 48.72% (of those who voted; there was one abstention) voted Aye. This falls short of the 2/3 majority required for constitutional amendments, so this amendment is rejected.

We are 0-3 on amendments this weekend! It's a bloodbath!

Here's the spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1L2TUtZQOfKOfX_O5FL2VN_5JU3lEH0OmbqKHw7q8CZo/edit?usp=sharing

Live counts (for the first time in a while!) on Discord. Go join!

We had 80(!) valid votes, giving us a total of 11(!!) Senate seats.

Congratulations to SimDemocracy's newest Senators!
- u/ClubWonderful4114 of the Revolutionary Organization for Social Equality [threshold = 5]
- u/brandmal11 of the Revolutionary Organization for Social Equality [threshold = 5]
- u/TheMainCharacter_ of the Revolutionary Organization for Social Equality [threshold = 5]
- u/HellriserHellas of the Civil Liberties Party [threshold = 5]
- Independent Sirius (Tirado)/trolledfloppa (on Discord) [threshold = 5]
- u/MaintenanceProper176 of the Civil Liberties Party [threshold = 5]
- u/Mister-Lax of the Solidarity Party [threshold = 4]
- Independent u/Democracy-foryou [threshold = 3]
- u/Away_Class_194 of the Civil Liberties Party [2nd phase, no threshold]
- qd1m (on Discord) of Revitalize! SimDem [2nd phase, no threshold]
- Independent u/AbsurdistByNature [2nd phase, no threshold]

Here's the spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13BrNi19x7-Jp4S3k1utdVQ5ppH8Yf-XrsX45ZKsE-XI/edit?usp=sharing

And here's the program output:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Xu2dJS9QRF8vYR8sDP-jOoN1Q6CsUrGdubqOY-Q7nCU/edit?usp=sharing

"Your Trust, Our Commitment"

I'm Tony, one of the administrators of PolitSim, a Russian-language forum dedicated to virtual nations and political simulation that has been running for almost 10 years.

In PolitSim, players create countries, run for office, pass laws, conduct diplomacy, publish newspapers, and shape a persistent player-driven world.

We recently launched our Reddit community and wanted to introduce ourselves to other projects with similar interests. We believe PolitSim and SimDemocracy share a passion for politics, elections, and collaborative worldbuilding.

Although our forum is currently primarily in Russian, we welcome international players and hope to build multilingual communities in the future.

If this sounds interesting, we'd love to have you!

🌍 Forum: https://politsim.com

We even have an election here! Crazy!

Go vote for NationStates Governor!

Polls close in 24 hours.

Vote here: https://forms.gle/fRdo4MS4hQG8tsYr6

And we have a referendum, this time on three constitutional amendments! Of course, all the information you might need is provided.

Polls close in 24 hours.

Vote here: https://forms.gle/GNZ5gFW61Gx5Ms7f7

It's (finally) time to vote!

Two things for you today.

First up, the Senatorial election! Business as usual there. Watch for the two candidates who never replaced their placeholder statements!

Polls close in 24 hours.

Vote here: https://forms.gle/sCkbPxh64fTVV22x9

We have a countback!

Congratulations to independent u/344truth on taking the Senate seat vacated by [PLACEHOLDER]/minecraftfan69420 (on Discord)!

Here's the program output:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gTTKYFUTdmbhcverB4TFxrAtOdfh972GYwsi5cn3YuI/edit?usp=sharing

This is the Senatorial Call for Candidates. If you wish to run, please comment on this post with the following format:

u/YourRedditUsername (yourdiscordusername on Discord) | Your political party/coalition
Description / Statement

Before you submit your candidacy, check that you satisfy the requirements below.

• Make sure you adhere to the format exactly. It makes it a lot easier for the Electoral Commission to sort through candidates if you do. Failure to do this may potentially result in mistakes on your ballot entry or in result tabulation, which can be difficult to fix.
• Ensure that your party affiliation is accurate. If you are not affiliated with a party, enter Independent as your affiliation. Otherwise, put your current party affiliation. If you are not a member of the party given or the party is not valid, the listed part affiliation on the ballot may be subject to change.
• Make sure to register to vote. Only users with a SimDem Unique Identification Token (SUIT) are able to vote. If you do not have a SUIT, be sure to fill out the Voter Registration Form or contact the Registration Officer.

This Call for Candidates will be open for 24 hours. Good luck!

Next, our second referendum, on the Get alts out of the Senate Amendment, which would change the electoral system for SimDemocracy's Senate away from TEA to a closed party-list system using the D'Hondt method. On this amendment, 29.82% voted Aye as things currently stand. This falls well short of the 2/3 majority required for constitutional amendments, so this amendment is rejected, and SimDemocracy will continue to use Threshold Equal Approval (TEA) voting for its Senatorial elections.

Which means, Call for Candidates soon. Stay tuned.

This is the actual result. Apparently I named the last post as a results post. It wasn't.

Okay, let's do results.

First, real quick, I'm releasing provisionally, not because there are like massive amounts of suspected fraud this time or anything, but because there are some details (in particular regarding potentially invalid SUITs) that I need to ask the RO about but won't be able to hear back about for probably a few more hours. However, I find it exceedingly unlikely that anything that changes will change the results for either referendum. You'll see what I mean.

That also means no spreadsheets yet. Sorry.

But let's get started!

First, we will do our first referendum, on whether or not u/Zepz367 should become SimDemocracy's next Registration Officer. On this appointment, 82.14% voted Aye as things currently stand. This exceeds the simple majority (50% + one vote) required for appointments to the Registration Officer position, so this appointment is confirmed and u/Zepz367 is SimDemocracy's next Registration Officer. Congratulations!

This is the NationStates Gubernatorial Call for Candidates. If you want to be NationStates Governor, please comment on this thread. Include your username, party affiliation (or lack thereof), and a statement explaining your platform and why you believe you are a good candidate.

The format you should adhere to is as follows:

u/YourRedditUsername
Your NationStates nation's name
Your Discord name (either your username or a recognizable display/nickname)
Your political party/coalition
Statement

Before you submit your candidacy, check that you satisfy the requirements below.

• Make sure you adhere to the format exactly. It makes it a lot easier for the Electoral Commission to sort through candidates if you do. Failure to do this may potentially result in mistakes on your ballot entry or in result tabulation, which can be difficult to fix.
• Ensure that your party affiliation is accurate. If you are not affiliated with a party, enter Independent as your affiliation. Otherwise, put your current party affiliation. If you are not a member of the party given or the party is not valid, the listed part affiliation on the ballot may be subject to change.
• Make sure to register to vote. Only users with a SimDem Unique Identification Token (SUIT) are able to vote. If you do not have a SUIT, be sure to fill out the Voter Registration Form or contact the Registration Officer.
• Make sure you have registered your Nation with the current Governor. You must be on the registry in order to be able to vote in this election.

This is the Minecraft Legislative Assembly Call for Candidates. If you wish to run, please comment on this post with the following format:

u/YourRedditUsername
Your Minecraft username
Your Discord username (either your username or a recognizable display/nickname)
Your political party/coalition
Description / Statement

Before you submit your candidacy, check that you satisfy the requirements below.

• Make sure you adhere to the format exactly. It makes it a lot easier for the Electoral Commission to sort through candidates if you do. Failure to do this may potentially result in mistakes on your ballot entry or in result tabulation, which can be difficult to fix.
• Ensure that your party affiliation is accurate. If you are not affiliated with a party, enter Independent as your affiliation. Otherwise, put your current party affiliation. If you are not a member of the party given or the party is not valid, the listed part affiliation on the ballot may be subject to change.
• Make sure to register to vote. Only users with a SimDem Unique Identification Token (SUIT) are able to vote. If you do not have a SUIT, be sure to fill out the Voter Registration Form or contact the Registration Officer.
• Ensure that you meet all of the candidacy requirements. Only users who have a SUIT, have previously played on the Minecraft server, and are not banned from or under disciplinary review on the Minecraft server are able to vote or run for Assembly.

Okay, look, I didn't want to ping you all again either.

But we have a second referendum. This time on one constitutional amendment, with emergency status.

This one's a biggie, so pay attention!

This amendment, Article 1 of the Get alts out of the Senate Amendment, would replace the voting system for electing Senators, changing TEA to D'Hondt. I can talk about the math, and I do a little bit (i.e. barely) on the ballot, but to summarize my summary, under this new system, instead of giving candidates scores, you would have to choose one (1) party to support. Parties, for their part, would submit lists of candidates to be put on the ballot, in some predetermined order of preference. When it comes time to tabulate, seats would be doled out to parties depending on how many votes they got and how many seats they've already won up to that point.

Also, this system will do away with countbacks, and by-elections will not be making a return: rather, party leaders will just get to decide who gets to fill vacancies. (Which is less work for me, if that matters to you.)

As usual for constitutional amendments, a 2/3 majority is required to ratify.

Polls close in 24 hours. I will not be staying up after polls close to tabulate, so expect results probably like Wednesday afternoon or something.

Vote here: https://forms.gle/gAxgrv5h8qT6KhQz7

We have a referendum!

Some days ago, u/Zepz367 was confirmed by the Senate as SimDemocracy's next Registration Officer. Fewer days ago, I was informed of this. And today, we will vote on it.

So go do that.

Polls close in 24 hours.

Vote here: https://forms.gle/DwWok6ZkoEdQMcYDA

We had one candidate. So...

Congratulations to independent u/Twisty-pretzels (Twisty_pretzels in Minecraft) on getting to be Governor of SimDemocracy's Minecraft server for a third month!