OFFICIAL Southeastern Gubenatorial Election - Dec 2004 (and other referenda)

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I would appreciate it if Gustaf would sticky this thread as soon as possible.  I will unlock this thread as soon after midnight Central Time (1 a.m. Eastern Time or 06:00 GMT) as I can so that voting may commence.  Voting will end as 11:59 pm Central time on Sunday, December 19 (12:59 am Eastern Time on Monday, December 20).

This election shall be conducted in strict accordance with the Southeastern Election Regulations.  You must be a validly registered voter of the Southeastern Region during the entire time this ballot is open in order for your vote to be valid.   Editing a ballot disqualifies it.  All discussion of the election must be conducted in a seperate thread.

There is a Gubernatorial election being held for a term of office ending February 20, 2005.  The Southeastern Region uses approval voting for Gubernatorial elections.  List all persons who you would approve of as Governor, with the order not mattering.  In the event that multiple candidates should be tied for the most approvals, a runoff will be held on Tuesday, December 21.  The following persons have requested that their names be placed upon this ballot, but you may write in the name of any Southeastern resident in addition to or instead of these candidates:
   Ernest (South Carolina)
   Jake (Georgia)

There is Magisterial nomination up for a vote on this ballot.  You may only vote yes, no, or abstain on this nomination.  Write-ins are not accepted and shall in the absence of any language indicating an opinion on whether John Dibble should be Magistrate, be treated as an abstain.

There are three initiatives up for a vote on this ballot, each proposed as per Article I Section 6 of the Southeast Constitution.  These initiatives are numbered #6 thru #8 and the text of each is given below.
Official Ballot
Gubernatorial Election
List all candidates who you approve of.
   Ernest (South Carolina)
   Jake (Georgia)

Referenda
Please vote either Yes, No, or Abstain on each referendum.  The use of other phrasing will not neccessarily render the ballot invalid, but may subject it to interpretation.

Magistrate (John Dibble):
Initiative #6 (Military Training):
Initiative #7 (Right-to-Work):
Initiative #8 (Southeastern Building Code):
Magistrate
Shall John Dibble of Georgia serve as Magistrate until such time as  Article V Section 1 of the Southeastern Constitution pertains?
Initiative #6
Military Training Initiative

§1. The Southeastern Regional Government shall appropriate 500 million dollars to construct a Joint Regional Training Center at Fort Bliss, Texas.  This facility shall consist of an accurate 50 building replica of a desert city to simulate the battlefields the Southeastern National Guard troops are fighting on in Afghanistan and Iraq.

§2. In addition, this facility will be made availible to the Southeastern National Guard and Midwestern National Guard for training purposes and will be availible for lease by the Atlasian Government.

§3. The facility will only be built with the cooperation of the Midwestern Government to the tune of 500 million dollars. The Governors of each Region shall appoint someone to oversee the construction of this facility.  After it is completed it shall come under the rotating command of an appropriate commander from either region.
Initiative #7
Right-to-Work Initiative

Due to the length of this initiative, it is not included in this post.
The original text is linked instead.
Initiative #8
Southeastern Building Code Initiative

Due to the length of this initiative, it is not included in this post.
The original text is linked instead.
Official Ballot
Gubernatorial Election
List all candidates who you approve of.
   Ernest (South Carolina)
   Jake (Georgia)

Referenda
Please vote either Yes, No, or Abstain on each referendum.  The use of other phrasing will not neccessarily render the ballot invalid, but may subject it to interpretation.

Magistrate (John Dibble):
Initiative #6 (Military Training):
Initiative #7 (Right-to-Work):
Initiative #8 (Southeastern Building Code):

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I hereby declare this voting booth open.

[??????????]

Official Ballot
Gubernatorial Election

1) Ernest

Referenda

Magistrate (John Dibble): Yes
Initiative #6 (Military Training): Yes
Initiative #7 (Right-to-Work): Yes
Initiative #8 (Southeastern Building Code): Yes

[2952-0-0]

Governor: Ernest
Magestrate: Yes
#6: No
#7: Yes
#8: Yes

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

Gubernatorial Election: Ernest

Referenda:
Magistrate (John Dibble): Yes
Initiative #6 (Military Training): No
Initiative #7 (Right-to-Work): Yes
Initiative #8 (Southeastern Building Code): Yes

[John Dibble]

Gubernatorial Election
   Ernest

Referenda
Magistrate (John Dibble): Yes
Initiative #6 (Military Training): Abstain
Initiative #7 (Right-to-Work): Yes
Initiative #8 (Southeastern Building Code): Yes

[Jake]

Governor:
Ernest (UP-SC)
Jake (AFLP-GA)

Referenda
Magistrate:Yes
#6:Yes
#7:Yes
#8:Yes

[7,052,770]

Ernest
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

[Matt]

Governor:
Ernest

Referenda:
Magistrate: Yes
#6: Yes
#7: Yes
#8: Yes

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Governor:
Ernest
htmldon
jake

Referenda:
Magistrate (John Dibble): Yes
Initiative #6 (Military Training): No
Initiative #7 (Right-to-Work): Yes
Initiative #8 (Southeastern Building Code): Yes

[Q]

Governor: Ernest

Magistrate: Yes
#6: No
#7: No
#8: Yes

[Josh/Devilman88]

Ernest
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

[CheeseWhiz]

Governor: Ernest
Magistrate: Yes
#6: No
#7: Yes
#8: Yes

[WiseGuy]

Gubernatorial Election

Ernest
Jake

Referenda

Magistrate (John Dibble): Yes
Initiative #6 (Military Training): No
Initiative #7 (Right-to-Work): Yes
Initiative #8 (Southeastern Building Code): Yes

[LesterMaddox]

Official Ballot
Gubernatorial Election
List all candidates who you approve of.
   Jake (Georgia)
   States Rights (Florida)

Referenda
Please vote either Yes, No, or Abstain on each referendum.  The use of other phrasing will not neccessarily render the ballot invalid, but may subject it to interpretation.

Magistrate (John Dibble): Abstain
Initiative #6 (Military Training): No
Initiative #7 (Right-to-Work): Yes
Initiative #8 (Southeastern Building Code): No

[Sam Spade]

Gubernatorial Election:

Ernest
Jake
htmldon
StatesRights
SamSpade

Referenda:

Magistrate (John Dibble):  Yes
Initiative #6 (Military Training):  Yes
Initiative #7 (Right-to-Work):  Yes
Initiative #8 (Southeastern Building Code):  Yes

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I hereby declare the polls closed on these matters.

In the matter of the following ballots:

Ernest
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

Ernest
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

I find the ballots to be ambiguous and subject to several possible interpretations.
1) An extremely affirmative vote for Ernest as Governor.
2) A vote for Ernest and an enthisiastic vote for Yes as Governor.
3) A vote for both Ernest and Yes for Governor and a Yes vote on three unspecified referenda.
4) An affirmative vote for Ernest as Governor and a Yes vote on three unspecified referenda.
5) A vote for Ernest as Governor and a Yes vote on four unspecified referenda.

In none of the five contests on these ballots, do all of the possible interpretations given above render the same result regardless of interpretation.  Therefore, I find the ballots insufficiently precise for the intent of the voter to be determined from the ballots alone.  Hence, these ballots are not counted.

All other ballots are sufficiently precise for the intent to be discerned and the votes indicated thereon are to be counted.

The official results are as given below.

Gubernatorial Election

Votes	Candidate
11	Ernest
5	Jake
2	htmldon
2	StatesRights
1	Sam Spade

Having received the most approvals, Ernest is the winner of this contest.

Magistrate Referendum
Passes 11 to 0 with 1 abstention

Initiative #6
Fails 7 to 4 with 1 abstention

Initiative #7
Passes 11 to 1

Initiative #8
Passes 11 to 1