<div id="doc" class="container markdown-body" data-hard-breaks="true"><h1 class="part" data-startline="8" data-endline="8" id="Colemen-Electoral-Rules"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#Colemen-Electoral-Rules" title="Colemen-Electoral-Rules" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>Newshore Electoral Rules</h1>
<p class="part" data-startline="10" data-endline="10">These rules are to be followed by all candidates in an election organised by the Colemen Electoral Commission.</p>
<p class="part" data-startline="12" data-endline="12">Candidates taking part in simultaneous elections shall follow the below rules for each election independently of one another. Disqualifications, however, will apply to all currently-entered elections regardless of where the disqualification originated from.</p>
<p class="part" data-startline="14" data-endline="14">Candidates whom run on a joint-ticket (e.g., gubernatorial elections) shall follow the below rules for the election independently of one another. Disqualifications, however, will apply to all candidates present on the ticket.</p>
<h2 class="part" data-startline="16" data-endline="16" id="1-Campaigning"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#1-Campaigning" title="1-Campaigning" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>1. Campaigning</h2>
<p class="part" data-startline="18" data-endline="18">These are general rules that apply to all candidates regardless of the areas they are campaigning unless explicitly stated as otherwise in this sub-section of rules. Breaking any of these rules shall result in disqualification from the current election.</p>
<h4 class="part" data-startline="20" data-endline="20" id="1-Campaigning-outside-of-the-prescribed-times-is-prohibited"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#1-Campaigning-outside-of-the-prescribed-times-is-prohibited" title="1-Campaigning-outside-of-the-prescribed-times-is-prohibited" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>1. Campaigning outside of the prescribed times is prohibited</h4>
<p class="part" data-startline="22" data-endline="22">What some may see as campaigning is subjective and it is important that candidates take that into account with all actions they undertake prior to and after a campaign window is open.</p>
<p class="part" data-startline="24" data-endline="24">Candidate campaigning Discords are an exception to this rule. Policy and other matters may be discussed in these servers outside of the campaign window and on polling day. Voters should not be directed to your server outside of the prescribed times, however.</p>
<h5 class="part" data-startline="26" data-endline="26" id="Prescribed-Times"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#Prescribed-Times" title="Prescribed-Times" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>Prescribed Times</h5>
<p class="part" data-startline="28" data-endline="28">This rule is only considered as soon as candidates are confirmed to be enrolled in an election as posted in the <code>#elections</code> Discord channel. Incumbents of an office/seat involved in a recall election are thus precluded from campaigning as soon as a recall election is confirmed by the CEC in the same Discord channel, this is held until the campaign window opens for other candidates.</p>
<h4 class="part" data-startline="30" data-endline="30" id="2-Threatening-undermining-blackmailing-bribing-or-canvassing-voters-in-any-malicious-manner"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#2-Threatening-undermining-blackmailing-bribing-or-canvassing-voters-in-any-malicious-manner" title="2-Threatening-undermining-blackmailing-bribing-or-canvassing-voters-in-any-malicious-manner" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>2. Threatening, undermining, blackmailing, bribing or canvassing voters in any malicious manner</h4>
<p class="part" data-startline="32" data-endline="32">Performing any of these actions regardless of the campaigning window being open or not will result in immediate disqualification.</p>
<h4 class="part" data-startline="34" data-endline="34" id="3-Spamming-any-group-wall-Discord-server-or-the-direct-messages-of-voters"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#3-Spamming-any-group-wall-Discord-server-or-the-direct-messages-of-voters" title="3-Spamming-any-group-wall-Discord-server-or-the-direct-messages-of-voters" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>3. Spamming any group wall, Discord server or the direct messages of voters</h4>
<p class="part" data-startline="36" data-endline="36">This is in line with the rules already present on the Discord server. Candidates should never be messaging random members of the server in order to get such member to vote for them or vote at all.</p>
<h4 class="part" data-startline="38" data-endline="38" id="4-Organising-unlawful-demonstrations-which-disrupts-pedestrians-or-public-highways-in-order-to-promote-a-political-candidate-or-message"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#4-Organising-unlawful-demonstrations-which-disrupts-pedestrians-or-public-highways-in-order-to-promote-a-political-candidate-or-message" title="4-Organising-unlawful-demonstrations-which-disrupts-pedestrians-or-public-highways-in-order-to-promote-a-political-candidate-or-message" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>4. Organising unlawful demonstrations which disrupts pedestrians or public highways in order to promote a political candidate or message</h4>
<p class="part" data-startline="40" data-endline="40">Political campaigning should be peaceful and free of disruption to the masses. Clear endorsement of the contrary shall result in disqualification.</p>
<h4 class="part" data-startline="42" data-endline="42" id="5-Employees-of-the-Emergency-Services-the-National-Guard-or-any-other-public-agency-are-prohibited-from-campaigning-on-duty-or-in-uniform"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#5-Employees-of-the-Emergency-Services-the-National-Guard-or-any-other-public-agency-are-prohibited-from-campaigning-on-duty-or-in-uniform" title="5-Employees-of-the-Emergency-Services-the-National-Guard-or-any-other-public-agency-are-prohibited-from-campaigning-on-duty-or-in-uniform" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>5. Employees of the Emergency Services, the National Guard or any other public agency are prohibited from campaigning on duty or in uniform</h4>
<p class="part" data-startline="44" data-endline="44">Campaign material may contain media of candidates in uniform, however, such candidates should not be using their role as a medium for campaigning.</p>
<h2 class="part" data-startline="47" data-endline="47" id="2-Discord-Campaigning-Channels"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#2-Discord-Campaigning-Channels" title="2-Discord-Campaigning-Channels" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>2. Discord Campaigning Channels</h2>
<p class="part" data-startline="49" data-endline="49">This section details the usage of official campaigning channels organised and maintained by the CEC. These are the channels accessible in the main State of Colemen Discord for exclusive use by election candidates. These rules only apply for these types of channels and are measured against on an individual basis.</p>
<h3 class="part" data-startline="51" data-endline="51" id="Rules"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#Rules" title="Rules" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>Rules</h3>
<h4 class="part" data-startline="53" data-endline="53" id="1-Candidates-are-limited-to-messages-containing-at-most-800-characters-of-text-This-includes-all-letters-numbers-symbols-spaces-formatting-styles-and-links"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#1-Candidates-are-limited-to-messages-containing-at-most-800-characters-of-text-This-includes-all-letters-numbers-symbols-spaces-formatting-styles-and-links" title="1-Candidates-are-limited-to-messages-containing-at-most-800-characters-of-text-This-includes-all-letters-numbers-symbols-spaces-formatting-styles-and-links" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>1. Candidates are limited to messages containing at most 800 characters of text. This includes all letters, numbers, symbols, spaces, formatting styles, and links</h4>
<p class="part" data-startline="55" data-endline="55">Using <a href="https://charactercounttool.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this</a> website to measure character count will result in the same metrics that the CEC use. You should paste your raw message into this tool before posting and take the characters in bold at the top of the page as your final result.</p>
<p class="part" data-startline="57" data-endline="57"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/gvn7h3N.png" alt="" class=""></p>
<h4 class="part" data-startline="60" data-endline="60" id="2-Candidates-are-limited-to-at-most-8-posts-in-any-24-hour-period"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#2-Candidates-are-limited-to-at-most-8-posts-in-any-24-hour-period" title="2-Candidates-are-limited-to-at-most-8-posts-in-any-24-hour-period" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>2. Candidates are limited to at most 8 posts in any 24 hour period</h4>
<p class="part" data-startline="62" data-endline="62">To measure this, the CEC recommends utilising Discord’s search feature with the format <code>from:&lt;USERNAME#XXXX&gt; in:&lt;ELECTION&gt;-campaigning</code>, and simply counting the number of messages they have posted in the past 24 hours. If it is 8 or over, candidates are restricted from posting.</p>
<div class="alert alert-danger part" data-startline="64" data-endline="65">
<p>Some candidates mistake this rule for “8 posts in a day” rather than “any 24 hour period”. It is important this distinction is made. Post count does not reset suddenly at midnight in some arbitrary timezone!</p>
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<h4 class="part" data-startline="68" data-endline="68" id="3-Candidate’s-messages-must-be-at-least-30-minutes-apart-from-one-another"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#3-Candidate’s-messages-must-be-at-least-30-minutes-apart-from-one-another" title="3-Candidate’s-messages-must-be-at-least-30-minutes-apart-from-one-another" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>3. Candidate’s messages must be at least 30 minutes apart from one another</h4>
<p class="part" data-startline="70" data-endline="70">Check to ensure there is no post in the previous 30 minutes when sending a new post 30 minutes. Do not try to post exactly as those 30 minutes elapse or candidates may risk being mere seconds under the 30 minutes in reality and risk being disqualified.</p>
<h3 class="part" data-startline="72" data-endline="72" id="Technicalities"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#Technicalities" title="Technicalities" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>Technicalities</h3>
<p class="part" data-startline="74" data-endline="74">The following section details areas the CEC consider when enforcing campaign channel rules.</p>
<h4 class="part" data-startline="76" data-endline="76" id="Deleted-messages-are-considered-as-if-they-still-exist"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#Deleted-messages-are-considered-as-if-they-still-exist" title="Deleted-messages-are-considered-as-if-they-still-exist" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>Deleted messages are considered as if they still exist</h4>
<p class="part" data-startline="78" data-endline="78">Candidates should aim to never delete messages unless absolutely necessary as it may lead to them breaking other rules by mistake if a deleted message is forgotten.</p>
<p class="part" data-startline="80" data-endline="80"><em>Messages that are automatically deleted as a result of some Discord bot, like Dyno, are exempt from this. If this happens, candidates are free to post again and may ignore the previously deleted message. The CEC is able to tell the difference.</em></p>
<h4 class="part" data-startline="82" data-endline="82" id="Campaign-multimedia"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#Campaign-multimedia" title="Campaign-multimedia" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>Campaign multimedia</h4>
<p class="part" data-startline="84" data-endline="84">Discord link embedding is not enabled in campaigning channels to conserve space between candidate posts. It is for this reason that images should be attached as a file upload rather than a link to some image hosting site such as Imgur. Linking by URL to an image in the same campaign post will result in no image being rendered to the electorate and only eats up character count.</p>
<p class="part" data-startline="86" data-endline="86"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/opb4sDS.png" alt="" class=""></p>
<p class="part" data-startline="88" data-endline="88">Candidate should first choose to upload campaign media, then paste their campaign post in the box as seen above.</p>
<h4 class="part" data-startline="90" data-endline="90" id="Campaign-Discords"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#Campaign-Discords" title="Campaign-Discords" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>Campaign Discords</h4>
<p class="part" data-startline="92" data-endline="92">Candidates may opt to open their own Discord server to allow for further and direct discussion with the electorate about their campaign policies. Invites to these servers must be linked in campaign documents or websites. Posting the invite directly in a campaign post in a campaign channel is against the <code>#discord-rules</code>.</p>
<h4 class="part" data-startline="94" data-endline="94" id="User-Mentions"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#User-Mentions" title="User-Mentions" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>User Mentions</h4>
<p class="part" data-startline="96" data-endline="96">In campaign posts, candidates may opt to list endorsements by fellow Citizens of Colemen. This is fine, however, these lists and any other mention of a fellow Citizen should not be formatted as a mention such as <code>@Aroushing</code>. Formatting in this manner may result in an unnecessary disqualification as the actual raw text used by Discord may not have the same number of characters as originally intended.</p>
<h2 class="part" data-startline="98" data-endline="98" id="3-Polling-Stations"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#3-Polling-Stations" title="3-Polling-Stations" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>3. Polling Stations</h2>
<h4 class="part" data-startline="100" data-endline="100" id="1-Voters-may-not-loiter-in-polling-stations-and-must-leave-after-they-have-cast-their-vote"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#1-Voters-may-not-loiter-in-polling-stations-and-must-leave-after-they-have-cast-their-vote" title="1-Voters-may-not-loiter-in-polling-stations-and-must-leave-after-they-have-cast-their-vote" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>1. Voters may not loiter in polling stations and must leave after they have cast their vote</h4>
<p class="part" data-startline="102" data-endline="102">The polling station shall be kept clear at all times and voters should have a quick and seamless experience voting.</p>
<h4 class="part" data-startline="104" data-endline="104" id="2-Blocking-or-obstructing-a-polling-station-will-result-in-criminal-charges"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#2-Blocking-or-obstructing-a-polling-station-will-result-in-criminal-charges" title="2-Blocking-or-obstructing-a-polling-station-will-result-in-criminal-charges" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>2. Blocking or obstructing a polling station will result in criminal charges</h4>
<p class="part" data-startline="106" data-endline="106">The electorate should not be barred from entering a polling station and submitting their ballot.</p>
<h2 class="part" data-startline="108" data-endline="108" id="4-Petitions"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#4-Petitions" title="4-Petitions" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>4. Petitions</h2>
<p class="part" data-startline="110" data-endline="110">The CEC will conduct any petitions as required in legislation, within the <code>#polls</code> Discord channel. This channel is restricted to Citizens of the State of Colemen.</p>
<h4 class="part" data-startline="112" data-endline="112" id="1-Signatures-must-reach-a-required-amount-within-10-days"><a class="anchor hidden-xs" href="#1-Signatures-must-reach-a-required-amount-within-10-days" title="1-Signatures-must-reach-a-required-amount-within-10-days" smoothhashscroll=""><span class="octicon octicon-link"></span></a>1. Signatures must reach a required amount within 10 days</h4>
<p class="part" data-startline="114" data-endline="114">Unless specified in appropriate legislation, the CEC will allow a maximum of 10 days from the opening of a petition calling for recall or other changes to reach its required amount of signatures.</p>
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