If an Election has been successfully called, the Lead Moderator will announce as such to all players.
Regarding how to call an election, see here.
Any players off on Expeditions will not be aware of this occurrence, nor may they participate in the process unless they return during one of the following steps.
The election has 7 steps.
Once an Election is in full swing, the following phases occur:
Each Creed receives 1 vote during this process. The Voting Form from each Creed must be signed by all members of the Creed (if members are absent on Expeditions, the Moderators will note this).
Creeds may abstain the vote. Doing so may see their Loyalty drop (as they refuse to give a voice to their followers) or their vote be assigned to a randomly selected candidate, to represent the voting of their supporters.
The moment a victor is announced, the Government Creeds must vacate their ‘offices’ and handover any associated resources and recordkeeping to the incoming Government.
In the instance of a tie, Creeds who did not vote for either of the two victors are asked to reassign their votes to one of the two until a winner is declared.
If there is still a tie, the Election is cancelled until the following Term and the Colony suffers social upheaval.