LJ Advisory Board: the current state of the race

[rm]

When I worked for Mindvox a lot of unbelieveably fucked up stuff went down, a lot of it not dissimilar in tone and intent to a lot of the drama going on with the LJ ADvisory Board elections. And hell, we never even had elections for anything. Thank god.

At this point I can confirm that I received the email that we were asked not to share (but has subsequently been leaked and referenced by other parties starting with cambler's withdrawal from the election) from LJ stating that a "credible threat" had been made against a candidate. I do not know which candidate, nor do I know who made the threat -- there is no reason to believe at this time that it was another candidate. I want to emphasize that. Other than, I presume, the persons directly involved in the situation, that is all the data we have.

Now, there are a lot of reasons to be disturbed by this election process from people's inability to understand ranked voting, accusations of vote stuffing, specious cries of censorship, unanswered questions about conflicts of interest and the inevitable Godwin-factor in anything that even resembles an Internet debate. But all of that is about par for the course.

What actually disturbs (as opposed to annoys, exasperates, concerns or saddens) me about this election isn't the threats of violence, but the simple fact that I am not surprised by them.

Very early on in the process when I was one of the more interesting targets in this thing, I subjected Patty to a pretty long rant about the way I can sometimes bring all the bullies to the yard, about how I have always felt like a rat in the wrong nest, and about how, as utterly batshit as I knew I sounded, I was sure there were people in this thing that would be really happy if physical harm came to me.

Obviously, we both got upset and worked up about the whole thing, but that also enabled me to step back and stop looking at what was designed merely to shake me up or get me to pull out. My life with her is a lot more important than this shit. So are my friends, my fencing, my writing, my acting, my work, my pets, etc.

So it wasn't, apparently, me who got the threat. Thank all the little gods that be. Not just because I'm not dealing with that nightmare, but because it's taught me both that my instincts aren't wrong, and that both I and my situation are really different than they once were.

I needed a dose of perspective, and along the way in this I've gotten at least two. Unfortunately, it seems like a whole lot of other people involved in this thing are still in need of the same.

I hope whoever was targetted doesn't drop out of the race because of this. Because that is always what bullies want. I realized pretty early on in this I probably couldn't win, but I thought maybe I could draw enough fire to keep some of the heat off of a candidate who had a platform I had some feeling for. Alas, this hasn't really been the case.

I'll be curious to see how this all shakes out in the end, as I think the only thing it's really safe to say is it sure ain't over yet.

Comments

[dabhug.livejournal.com]

Hang in there. I'm still pulling for you.

BTW - Thank you for adding me to your list.

[micheleonelonly.livejournal.com]

oh, wow. That is really weird and creepy. My money though is on jameth getting the threat

My money is on jameth getting the threat.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Doubtful.
I would assume the person most likely to beat him,since I am a deplorably cynical sort of fellow,and because some of his 'friends' are IMO quite skeezy.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

This is my exceedingly disappointed face. Yes, a lot of people's pride may be running on this, but at heart *it's only the Internet*.

*hugs* Hang in there. Your assertiveness is just what the job requires.

[browneyedgirl65.livejournal.com]

Doesn't surprise me either. I tangled with this kind of shit back in the late nineties and have had 1) threats 2) publication of my name and address with the exhortation to go "teach me a lesson" (wrong address, fortunately fro me, not so much for whose address it actually was) and 3) a real life stalker. You can say "it's just the internet" which on one level it is. Just watch out it doesn't jump the divide. But you know that.

Needless to say, I go anonymous on the 'net now :-P. Glad it wasn't you. Still this isn't fun.

[hakeber.livejournal.com]

It'll be interesting to see how the votes shake out. Once they start eliminating the candidates with the least votes, you may find your own count jumps, as you currently have quite a few second place votes.

[marchek.livejournal.com]

Wow, the venom being released in this election is just ridiculous. I'm so sorry that you are the target of some of that terribly misplaced ire.
Rest assured, you got my vote.

[cleverthylacine]

Very early on in the process when I was one of the more interesting targets in this thing, I subjected Patty to a pretty long rant about the way I can sometimes bring all the bullies to the yard, about how I have always felt like a rat in the wrong nest, and about how, as utterly batshit as I knew I sounded, I was sure there were people in this thing that would be really happy if physical harm came to me.

I hate this feeling and it's so familiar to me.

[moem]

people's inability to understand ranked voting

Well, I'm sorry, but I'm one of those who do not understand it.
I've never seen such a voting process before, and I've read the description several times and it doesn't mean dick to me.

I also think it's weird that we can see the current tally, and at the same time change our votes. That doesn't seem to make sense. The voting is actually influencing itself, if you know what I mean.

[gement.livejournal.com]

The basic point is, it lets you vote your heart without throwing away a hedge-bet to steer who really wins. It lets you cast an Anyone But [Slimeball of your choice] ballot.

The assertion of minor parties for years is that no one votes for them because no one dares split the vote when they hate the [Major Party 1] but "better them than [Major Party 2]." If people really voted the person they wanted most, maybe they'd all be voting Green Party but no one will be the first to risk it.

Ranked voting means you can throw in for Green Party, and then when Green Party doesn't get enough votes,
1) You've shown your support (making your case stronger in the next election).
2) When Green Party is eliminated, your ballot is counted as a vote for your second choice, keeping the [Major Party you most fear] from getting it.

Does that help at all?

[moem]

A bit. Thank you.

[elf]

1) If someone gets more than 50% of the vote for first choice, race over; that person wins.
2) If not: they remove whoever got the lowest votes, and assign those ballots to the people who they voted for second. (They had to write extra code for this; you can't see that part.)
3) If nobody has 50%, eliminate next person, reassign those votes. If their 2nd choice has already been eliminated, assign their third choice that vote.

4) Keep eliminating candidates & reassigning their votes until someone has 50% of the vote. (However: because of the way they set this up, it might not happen, in which case, whoever got most 1st votes, wins.)

That part, got explained, but it's complicated and unusual for most Americans.

The part that doesn't get explained, because it's the philosophy behind it instead of the mechanics: like gement said, it lets you vote for who you want, instead of "who you think will probably win." You can put your second or third vote for whoever you wouldn't mind, but you think has a better chance of winning, and will keep whoever you *don't* want, out.

It allows real preferences, rather than just "vote for X, because any vote not for X is a vote for Y!" And it has the chance of not electing anyone's first choice, but everyone's second or third choice--because it's possible that not everyone agrees on the best candidate, but everyone's second choice is the same.

Short version: Vote for three different candidates; it does not help to vote for the same person three times.

If you want to vote *against* someone by making a strong showing elsewhere, you can do that with your 2nd or 3rd, and leave your 1st for the person you really prefer most. You don't "throw away" your first-choice vote, even if you know that person can't win.

[moem]

I'm sorry. I think I just broke my brain.
(I'm not an American, though, and I'm not a native speaker of English, so along with being seriously challenged in the maths department that has been giving me trouble here.)
Thank you for trying.

I honestly cannot find three different candidates I want to vote for, unless I start voting for people that have no chance to win at all, and I'm thinking that voting for those wouldn't help either.

[elf]

You don't need to vote for three with "a chance of winning." You can pick *one* you think has a good chance of winning. Your other two slots can go to anyone, even if you think they'll lose--they're not wasted votes.

You only get one actual vote. With this method, that actual vote could be your second- or third-choice person, instead of the one you want most to win, but doesn't have enough other votes.

~nods~

[kaifoxx.livejournal.com]

"What actually disturbs (as opposed to annoys, exasperates, concerns or saddens) me about this election isn't the threats of violence, but the simple fact that I am not surprised by them."

Yeah, I had that moment myself. I've seen some pretty under-handed things including threats in my time..but it stopped short (barely) of that level. We did have some concerns about at least one person making offline "house calls", and that was a scary enough feeling.

[fallen-x-ashes.livejournal.com]

So is this election being implemented as a Borda Count? That would mean you're winning right? Or does that just mean they'll take whoever wins the first choice?

I think it's pretty amusing and significant that, despite the cries of fradulant elections via troll and rp accounts, neither legomalfoy or jameth are leading in the second round. Hmmmmm. What could this mean? ;-)

As others have said, hang in there. I think you're an *excellent* choice for the positon, so we'll see what happens.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

The fact that someone would engage in a threat over an advisory board election is tragic enough. Nevertheless I see no reason why such a person should not be expelled from the race. After all, this does constitute a breach of election law, at least in the natural law sense in lieu of formal regulations.

[rm.livejournal.com]

I don't think it was another candidate. I think it was a random person. But I don't know.

[tcpip.livejournal.com]

Hmmm.. Surely making "credible threats" is a criminal act, as well?

Some people are just damn crazy.