Minister of Magic Elections

Election Cycle:

• Monthly Schedule: Elections run from the 1st of each month to the 1st of the next month
• Daily Voting: Players can cast one vote per game day (roughly every two hours) throughout the election period
• Automatic Reset: Votes are tallied and a new election begins at the Ministry's next roll after midnight on the 1st (it runs twice a day, morning and evening), not at the stroke of midnight - the Ministry keeps banker's hours even for democracy
• Polls Close at Midnight: Between midnight and that roll, the standings page marks the previous month's polls closed and waits; voting, registering, contributing, and campaign speeches or platform edits are paused until the new cycle opens. A candidate can still review their campaign and can still withdraw, since declining an office you are about to be handed is the one civic act the Ministry never delays. Should the roll ever run more than a day and a half late, the pause ends on its own: the polls reopen, the page says the roll is overdue, and every vote cast in the meantime still counts when the tally finally arrives
• Continuous Process: Aside from that brief administrative pause, there's always an election running - democracy rarely sleeps

To Vote:

• Minimum VEs: 7 Voldemort Encounters (normally)
• Voting Frequency: Once per game day (roughly every two hours)
• Voting Period: Throughout the entire month

To Run as Candidate:

• Minimum VEs: 50 Voldemort Encounters (normally)
• Campaign Platform: Must create a platform explaining your promises/policies
• Campaign Period: Can register and campaign throughout the election month
• Withdrawal Option: Can withdraw candidacy at any time before election ends

Campaign Features:

• Campaign Speeches: Give one speech per day to rally support and communicate your platform
• Campaign Contributions: Accept gold donations from supporters (contributes to your war chest)
• Platform Management: Update your campaign promises and policies
• Vote Tracking: See how many votes you've received in real-time
• Candidate List: View all candidates and their platforms

A platform may promise the whole wizarding world almost anything about what you will do as Minister. It may not mention a gift or a giveaway, for your voters or for everyone. VIP passes, gold, gems, items and favors with a price tag all count, however politely they are worded. The same rule sits on the platform editor, in smaller print and a sterner color.

Fine:

• "I'll donate to the site." Donations keep the castle lit and the owls fed, and they are genuinely appreciated, on the campaign trail or off it.
• Anything about what you will do once you are Minister, however ambitious, unlikely or involving dragons.
• Running or sponsoring a giveaway, any time you like, candidate or not. Generosity is allowed, even encouraged. It simply waits outside the platform, like a dog outside a bakery: welcome, adored, and not coming in.

Not fine:

• "I'll give VIP passes to people who vote for me."
• "I'm giving away VIP passes to every active player." Open to everyone or not, a prize in a platform is a prize in a platform. The Department can tell. It has been to a great many of these.
• Gold, gems or items for every ballot cast your way, or a bonus for showing proof of one.

Rules change. For a short and faintly chaotic period, a giveaway open to everyone was allowed in a platform. The Department has since reviewed this policy, in a meeting that ran long and produced one biscuit-related injury, and reversed it. People like generous people. A bribe is still a bribe, even when it is addressed To Whom It May Concern. A giveaway anyone can enter still lets the deepest vault promise the biggest prize, and the game has to be fair for everyone, not just for the candidate whose vault echoes the least. If the rule changes again, this page will hear about it first, and then tell you, probably with a sigh.

Why the line sits there. Ballots are secret. The only way to collect a reward for voting a certain way is to prove how you voted, or to vote from accounts nobody can check, and the second one is the exact thing the Department is trying to stop. A paid-for vote also turns the election into an auction, which the richest wallet wins, when it is supposed to be a popularity contest, which the most liked wizard wins. Neither is a dignified way to choose a government, but only one of them is a game.

If a platform crosses it. Staff will ask the candidate to change it and give a deadline. A mention still up after that is removed by staff, and a candidate who keeps adding it back can be disqualified (see Fair Play above). If a candidate offers you something for your vote, use Petition for Help and keep a screenshot.

Players can donate gold to their favorite candidates to support their campaigns:

• Maximum Per Player: 5,000 gold per contributor (normally)
• No Limits on Total: Candidates can receive contributions from unlimited players
• Gold Goes to Candidate: Contributions are transferred directly to the candidate's account
• Track Your Contributions: The system tracks which candidates you've supported

It's basically a system where you can literally buy political influence, which is either satirical commentary on real-world politics or just a convenient way to transfer gold between players. Possibly both.

Server-Specific Perks: Benefits vary by server, but typically include:

• Title/Status: Recognition as the elected Minister of Magic
• Hall of Fame Entry: Your term is recorded in election history
• Bragging Rights: You convinced more people to vote for you than anyone else
• Potential Perks: Some servers may grant special abilities, bonuses, or access to Minister-only features

Check with your server to see what additional benefits the Minister position provides. On some servers it's purely ceremonial; on others, you might actually get to do Minister-y things like make important decisions or wear a fancy hat.

An election is a popularity contest. So, it turns out, is staying elected.

When the month's votes are counted, the Ministry writes down how many different witches and wizards voted for the winner. A player who voted every single game day counts once, because enthusiasm is lovely but it is not arithmetic. That number is the mandate, and it is the most important figure a new Minister will ever be told and then immediately forget.

Any player who is allowed to vote can Vote to Impeach the sitting Minister from the election hub, any time the polls are open, once per Minister. (The polls close at midnight on the 1st and reopen when the Ministry's next roll runs, morning or evening, the way every other election button does.) The vote cannot be taken back. The Minister cannot vote to impeach themself, though they are welcome to watch the mood darken, which most find motivating in the way that a large dog is motivating. The impeachment box itself shows what the Department will say about the petition: who is under it, how long they have held the office, the ten-signature floor, and when the box closes, with the mood underneath and a single button to sign.

The Ministry does not publish the running total. It publishes the mood, a bar on the election hub that runs from "Mild grumbling" through "Pitchforks being sharpened" to "The Minister has started packing." It is accurate in spirit, which the Ministry considers the important kind of accurate.

If more players vote to impeach than voted the Minister in, the Minister is out on the spot. There is also a floor (ten votes, unless staff have changed it), so a Minister elected by three people cannot be undone by four people and a strongly worded owl.

When a Minister is impeached:

• The runner-up takes over. The runner-up is not simply whoever came second in votes. It is the candidate the most different players voted for (the Supporters column on the Election Results page), because a crowd is harder to fake than a habit. Ties go to whoever had more votes. They start with their own mandate and an empty impeachment box.
• No usable runner-up? If nobody came second with a supporter, or the runner-up has since been banned or disqualified, or was already promoted by an earlier impeachment this term, the Ministry promotes whoever leads the race running right now, by total votes, even though the month is not over. They stay on the ballot, and their supporters so far this month become their mandate. Only if nobody in the current race has a single vote does the office sit vacant until the month-end election.
• One office per wizard. A new Minister who holds a Wizengamot seat gives it up, and it passes to the next eligible Wizengamot candidate, if there is one.
• The Daily Prophet runs the story, and the former Minister gets an owl. It is a very nice owl, as owls telling you that you have been impeached go.
• Off the ballot. The former Minister is taken off this month's ballot, loses any votes they had, and may not run again until the month after next.
• The Hall of Disgraced Ministers. Their portrait moves to the Ministers gallery, with how long they lasted and how many voted them out.
• The Impeached Ministers board. They appear on the Hogwarts Champions rankings under Government. It is the only board in the castle nobody has tried to climb on purpose. So far.
• The bowler stays. It is lime green. The Ministry asked around, and nobody wants it back.

While voting is open, the Election Results page also shows a live chart of the top five contenders. The winner of an election is still whoever has the most total votes. Supporters only decide who steps in when the winner is impeached.

One household, one signature. An account that shares a browser, a device or an email address with one that has already signed the impeachment petition is turned away at the box, even if the two of you have declared yourselves a household in good faith. The Ministry counts households, not people, which it considers a generous simplification. Staff can see the refused attempts and how often each was repeated, which they find about as funny as you would expect. Votes from banned accounts stop counting the moment the ban lands, on the principle that a ghost should not decide an election, even in this castle.