Logical.
Did we ever see anyone vote in the Federation?
- Thread starter Drago-Kazov
- Start date
Logical.
I've been a Poll Clerk and Deputy Returning Officer in Canada in three elections. It takes a half hour to count the votes, and an hour to fill out all the paper work balancing ballots issued against ballots cast, spoiled ballots, and other stuff. Worse if the Poll Clerk's list of names crossed off doesn't match the number of ballots issued. That's usually a person's eye gliding over one name.
But results are in in three hours of polling, though it isn't official until a week later, the count my the DRO and Poll Clerk is only considered "preliminary" in Canadian law. Everything has to be counted again by the riding Returning Officer, or if the candidates are separated by less that 100 votes, a judge.
But results are in in three hours of polling, though it isn't official until a week later, the count my the DRO and Poll Clerk is only considered "preliminary" in Canadian law. Everything has to be counted again by the riding Returning Officer, or if the candidates are separated by less that 100 votes, a judge.
Exactly. It's all more complicated than just adding things up once.
Yeah. But it's never even mentioned.
It seems Deep Space Nine would've been ripe for a storyline about the civilian political process during a time of war.
It's been mentioned twice, actually. "Errand of Fury" and "Paradise Lost."
Yes but if you note he said the results are in within 3 hours. It might take a week under Canadian law for it to become an offical result. But the result is still known within hours of polls closing.
You just need enough people to count the votes to return a result within a day or less.
And then things become exponentially more complicated and time-consuming the larger the population you're trying to serve.
Drago-Kazov
Fleet Captain
DS 9 could had pulled it of. Politics is dark and machiavellian and DS 9 was dark enough not to alienate lot of people who quite frankly don't vote or dislike most politicians.
I really don't think you're considering the logistics that would entail when you're dealing with over 150 entire planets. It's nonsense to think you can meaningfully extrapolate from how it happens in a single country.
And again, what is your rush? What is wrong with the idea of taking the time to be sure the results are trustworthy? It's not like the winners have to take office by the end of election day or something. There's naturally going to be a period of transition between election and inauguration. So no damage is going to be done if it takes an extra day or three to collate and verify the results. And plenty of damage could be done if the process were rushed for no good reason.
Electronic Voting Machines used in Indian elections have the benefit of quick counting.
But yeah, there's no need to rush to declare an election result.
But yeah, there's no need to rush to declare an election result.
You've got that right. And we're not even talking about each member star-nation's associated colonies and outposts, if they brought any such with them when they co-founded/joined the UFP.
In our real 'verse, Canada is itself possibly paying for a rush to vote-count judgement right now. The results of several dozen federal ridings in the most recent national elections are under question at the moment, partly due to concerns over "robocall"-induced voter suppression. The investigations and court dates are not yet over and done...and that's just for a planet-bound nation of 35 million.
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With the cultural maturity the Federation possesses, the desire for a near-instantaneous process should have been long since discarded as risky and immature.
Not necessarily. Back on TOS, the Enterprise was constantly visiting remote colonies and settlements that had been out of touch with the Federation for months.or even years. And even the Enterprise wasn't always able to communicate with Starfleet Command instantaneously. Technology had its limits.
Space is big.
Yeah, tabulating the vote on Earth is probably pretty streamlined, but getting the polling results from Deep Space Station K-7 or the Icarus Colony way out on Gamma Sigma VI . . . .
(Especially when the tribbles keep getting into the voting machines!)
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I could see it taking several days for the entire vote count to be finished. While communication might be pretty much instantaneous on one planet, or between nearby planets, we have seen repeatedly that it can still take quite a while for messages to get from one side of the Federation to the other. Not to mention the fact that there would probably be votes come in from outposts and ships that aren't even in the Federation at the time.
Then there is the fact that the person you're electing will become one of the most powerful beings in the entire galaxy. When you're making such a huge decision I can see where it would be a good idea to take you're time and make sure that your results are accurate.
Then there is the fact that the person you're electing will become one of the most powerful beings in the entire galaxy. When you're making such a huge decision I can see where it would be a good idea to take you're time and make sure that your results are accurate.
Drago-Kazov
Fleet Captain
Are there monarchies that are part of the federation or enlightened dictatorships?
The Andorian state was call the "Andorian Empire" so I assume it was a monarchy. Though the head of state was called a Chancellor. Perhaps it is a constitutional monarchy.
No idea about "enlightened dictatorships". ( what ever that means)
But did it keep that name after joining the UFP? According to Mike Sussman's Archer bio screen from "In a Mirror, Darkly," what was formerly called the Andorian Imperial Guard was later called simply the Andorian Guard. That implies the Empire dissolved into the Federation upon joining.
Well, we do know from Andor: Paradigm that they kept the Empty Throne after Federation Membership, so it's entirely plausible that the Andorian state continued to be called an "empire" even if it was such only in a ceremonial, constitutional monarchy sense.
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