---
slug: "Elect"
name: "Elect"
type: "Coordination"
layer: "Society"
ref: "Elect#5390"
sema_id: "sema:Elect#mh:SHA-256:53902a96572579889fc19d4c0100e7876fe566fba4cc846241e6b209b00bf52f"
tags: ["Society","Coordination"]
updated: 2026-11-11
mindscape: "bootstrap"
index_url: https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap.json
url: https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/Elect/
related: ["AcceptSpec","Ballot","Solution","Vote"]
---

# Elect

Leader nomination → vote → succession with term and authority bounds

Layer: Society · Category: Coordination

## Mechanism

Establish leadership role with nomination, powers, term, and succession. Phase 1 NOMINATE: Members send NOMINATE: {nominee, nominator, reason}. Self-nomination allowed if configured. Nominees must satisfy [AcceptSpec](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/AcceptSpec.md) to appear on [Ballot](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Ballot.md)—cannot elect unwilling leader. Phase 2 VOTE: Standard VOTE mechanism among accepted nominees. Phase 3 INVEST: Winner receives [Solution](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Solution.md) (Election Result): {elected, powers[] (explicitly granted authorities), term (fixed|task|indefinite|renewable), succession_plan (automatic|re_elect|fallback)}. Leader exercises granted powers until term ends, resignation, or recall. On term end: succession triggers per plan. RECALL mechanism if enabled: member initiates RECALL_MOTION: {reason}, group VOTEs, if threshold met leader removed and succession triggers.

## Invariants

- An office has exactly one occupant per term. A multi-seat body is this pattern composed once per seat.
- Any member can confirm the announced outcome follows from the [Ballot](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Ballot.md)s counted.

## Preconditions

- A defined set of members eligible for nomination
- Voting mechanism

## Postconditions

- Leader identified
- Term started

## Failure modes

- No candidates: nobody eligible is willing to stand — the cost of the [AcceptSpec](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/AcceptSpec.md) consent gate.
- Election deadlock (no majority—use runoff or plurality fallback).
- Leader abuse (exceeds granted powers—recall or DISBAND).
- Succession failure (successor also unavailable—chain or re-elect).
- Recall wars (constant removal attempts—raise threshold or cooldown).
- Power creep: authorities exercised beyond the powers[] recorded in the Election Result [Solution](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Solution.md).

## Builds on

- [AcceptSpec](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/AcceptSpec.md) (Infrastructure; Accepts)
- [Ballot](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Ballot.md) (Infrastructure; Accepts)
- [Solution](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Solution.md) (Infrastructure; Yields)

## Used by

- [Vote](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Vote.md) (Society; References)

## Identity

- Sema ID: `sema:Elect#mh:SHA-256:53902a96572579889fc19d4c0100e7876fe566fba4cc846241e6b209b00bf52f`
- Ref: `Elect#5390`
- Supersedes:
  - `sema:Elect#mh:SHA-256:4042f6af9faaf5b85a276ec88bddf7accacf63be9c7a917bfb4ff16bbf7e74a3`
  - `sema:Elect#mh:SHA-256:187a9d1996e3ad1fcb86b8dfe1207efb6473f2488bbf2741e5d77207b9dcdd38`
  - `sema:Elect#mh:SHA-256:45ff98aaa03731e8e490293d799edba62f98b40669828f2d32b436a0ecd4b6ca`
  - `sema:Elect#mh:SHA-256:c84fa9d3f7d3793f050b6ddc6a46efa35ccd433542fe45fc235aba8d8f36bd98`

## Links

- [Pattern page](https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/Elect/)
- [View in the interactive graph](https://mindscape.world/bootstrap/#Elect)
- [JSON](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap/Elect.json)
- [Index of all patterns](https://mindscape.world/scapes/bootstrap.json)