First postal vote received! I'm expecting one more, so this is probably going to be the election with the most postal votes in a long long while, if anything.

Glad to see you all back!

It thankfully seems like we're back to normal, so it seems like a good moment for the first turnout update; we're at 40 voters, or 29.2% turnout, with 13 days 8 hours left to vote.

We're a bit more than one fifth of the way into the election; last time, at this point into the election, 45 votes were cast (33.1%). It seems we're a little behind schedule, but this was also true of the last election, and yet it ended up being the election with the highest percentage turnout in post-Ben Talossa, and highest absolute turnout since July 2018, although in that one we had almost 50 more citizens.

GROUP 4
6. Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
4. Derek & the Dominos - Layla
3. David Bowie - Starman
2. Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights
1. Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train


GROUP 5
6. Toto - Africa
4. Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
3. Talking Heads - Psycho Killer
2. Dire Straits - Telegraph Road
1. Dave Brubeck - Take Five

Quote from: Breneir Tzaracomprada on August 17, 2026, 09:04:05 AMThank you for being transparent concerning your findings. I confess to being confused as to where the current track is headed. I can't tell whether this was AI bot interference, human error, or a combination of both.

In these 5 instances, I am 100% convinced it's AI bot interference; in your instance, 99%. Either way, I have done all I can to rectify both issues and provide the Government with all data I hold on the matter; I'm happy to report that 4 of 6 (edit: now 5) affected voters have recast their ballots, with a fifth having already reached out to me saying they would also re-vote soon.

Sent out: Aug 18, 2026, 6:16 AM TDT / 11:16 AM UTC
Submitted by: Crement Itravilatx on behalf of the Green Party
Count: 1 of 2 allowed after Balloting Day (next one: 25 Aug or later)

---

I am new officially to the Kingdom of Talossa but have heard of the Kingdom's affairs for years through my husband, Breneir. As much as I and my party can I am excited to help contribute to a new direction for the Green Party and for the Kingdom. Under my leadership, Greens hope to cooperate with the other parties on activities and issues which bring joy and creativity to the Kingdom. We hope to contribute to a Kingdom where citizens flourish. We hope to make a Kingdom where healthy and positive relationships make Talossa like a school of life.
Those are big goals that we do not expect to achieve in a few months. We won't promise their achievement in just a few months either. We pledge honest work, respectful dialogue, and Where the ideas of other parties and the Greens coincide we will support them. We are a small party but big things can be achieved by those who dream big. We believe Talossa is composed of people who do dream big. Let's show the world that our little 'micro'nation can make 'macro'achievements. Let's make other nations GREEN with envy.
But first we need your support. Please vote on Wittenberg at https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=5436.0 or on the Database at https://database.talossa.com
Crement Itravilatx
Leader, Green Party

Quote from: Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP on August 17, 2026, 09:29:35 AM

Quote from: Tric'hard Lenxheir on August 17, 2026, 09:26:21 AMDidn't really want to know who voted just a running total like you see on tv in the United States

You don't have that in the US either, what you see during Election Night are the numbers coming in as they count all the ballots after the polls are closed.

Yeah, especially when election nights were more of an event in the years before COVID, we theorised releasing results province by province to simulate precinct results coming in. The consensus was that there's so few voters in certain provinces, especially swing voters, that you would be able to pretty much figure out what everyone voted.

Quote from: Istefan Perþonest on August 17, 2026, 07:19:32 AMI wonder . . . it sort of sounds like a browser prefetch or AI feature gone wrong.

Do we know if the humans were all using the same web browser software (say, Chrome 151)?

Four were using Chrome 150/151 on Windows, Mac OS or Android; one was using Safari 26.6 on iOS.

Azul, I'm afraid the Chancery is currently investigating 5 ballots that were improperly submitted on the Database.

One of the five voters wrote me this morning detailing, with clear pictures, how his receipt showed a straight PRESENT ballot despite the confirmation modal on the voting page showing a fully compiled ballot.

I investigated the case through the logging and certification functions of the Database and found that the pattern in all five cases is the following:

• The legitimate (human) voter accesses the ballot;
• Some external (likely non human) actor, with an IP belonging to a Google block and a different UserAgent from the legitimate voter, immediately accesses and submits the ballot;
• The legitimate voter attempts to submit the ballot, but as a ballot in their name was already cast, they get redirected to the receipt for the external actor's vote instead.

In all five instances, the ballots were recorded as straight PRESENT choices. (EDIT: Additionally, it always takes exactly 6 seconds for the ballot to be submitted once accessed by the external actor.)

In three out of five instances, the external actor UserAgent, interestingly, was the same across all instances, and never appeared on any other ballots, EXCEPT for S:r Tzaracomprada's improperly submitted ballot (which also was recorded as straight PRESENT, and which EDIT: took 7 seconds to be submitted), and one single legitimate voter, which I already verified looks normal.

In the other two instances, the UserAgent was only different by a digit and shared by 6 other legitimate voters.

I am honestly at a loss; my theory is some sort of AI agent or bot by Google messing with the regular casting of votes. Either way, this isn't a Database problem, which paradoxically makes it more difficult for me to fix it.

The Chancery will immediately contact all affected voters to explain the situation and offer to recast or correct their ballots.

The Chancery will also explore ways to mitigate the issue going forward, e.g. blocking the Google IP range from which the external actors submitted the ballots, or adding a Captcha of some sort to the Database ballot, which might be challenging with an election actively underway.

Sent out: Aug 16, 2026, 4:46 PM TDT / 9:46 PM UTC
Submitted by: Miestră Schiva on behalf of the Uniun dels Reformistaes Livereschti
Count: 1 of 2 allowed after Balloting Day (next one: 23 Aug or later)

---

   
    Talossa's general elections are underway, and I'd like you to vote for the Union of Free Reformists (URL), Talossa's best - and only - political team.
   
    The incumbent government, the Progressive Alliance, admit that they didn't accomplish very much of what they set out to do in this term. We don't think that this is because they're incompetent or untruthful. It's because they're something of a one man band.
   
    Their mailers say "we've done this, we've done that". But that's the royal We - and unfortunately, it includes accomplishments they can't honestly take credit for. The incumbent Seneschal Davinescu is a patrotic Talossan. Unfortunately, he is not five patriotic Talossans.
   
    This isn't just knocking the Government, though. There are five political parties on your Talossan ballot. Four of them are "one man bands" - that is, their leader pretty much is the party.
   
    Only the Union of Free Reformists - formed from a merger of two older parties - have an actual team for leadership. And only a Government which has a team approach will actually accomplish anything worthy in office. We really do have five patriotic Talossans!
   
    In fact, there are their names: the URL Shadow Cabinet
   
    For Seneschal, Finance, Public Records and Technology: Mic'haglh Autófil
    For Justice and Propaganda: Miestră Schivă
    For Immigration and Culture: Marcel Tafial
    For Foreign Affairs: Antaglha Somelieir
    For Defence: Andrïeu Cabischabuerg

Please respond to doloras@randomstatic.net if you have any questions or comments.

There is power in a Union!

restéu voastra,
Miestră Schivă
Party Secretary, Union of Free Reformists

Unfortunately not, the results will be revealed all at once when the deadline has passed.

Azul à toct,

a majority of the Electoral Commission has voted to invalidate the ballot cast in S:r Tzaracomprada's name. Additionally, upon review of the metadata, the Commission believes that, since the ballot was evidently not cast by S:r Tzaracomprada, he has yet to cast a ballot and is still legally eligible to do so.

Therefore, as directed by the Commission, I have removed the invalid ballot, removed the old voter entry for S:r Tzaracomprada to invalidate the old PSC, and issued a new PSC for S:r Tzaracomprada, which I will communicate to him shortly.

The Chancery will also naturally assist the Government's investigation into the matter.



-- the SoS, on behalf of the Electoral Commission

I believe Lexh.B.13.6.1 applies here, meaning I am treating the above as a notification to me and the rest of the Electoral Commission that a potential irregularity with a ballot has taken place.

I have accordingly referred the matter to the rest of the Commission, which shall now review the matter and decide by majority vote whether an irregularity exists. Such an irregularity would then be handled according to existing law.

I will not comment on this further except to update on the Commission's findings.

I just woke up and I'm looking into the matter.

QuoteI am skeptical this was an accident as (maybe the SoS can confirm) my name would be visible on the ballot when the other person was voting.

Unfortunately the electronic form on the Database does not state whose ballot you're trying to cast anymore. I believe this happened prior to the last election in late 2025, when the old ballot page got mistakenly nuked and I had to restore it from the "preview ballot" page, which was mostly identical except for that bit at the top (obviously the preview ballot is not personalised).

Sent out: Aug 15, 2026, 5:36 PM TDT / 10:36 PM UTC
Submitted by: Breneir Tzaracomprada on behalf of the Independent Progressive
Count: 1 of 2 allowed after Balloting Day (next one: 22 Aug or later)

---

Fellow Talossans,

As a founder of Talossan Progressivism and now as an Independent Progressive I am asking for your vote. After some wise encouragement from my husband to make a simple apology and allow the Greens to move on I have set out on an independent path. I wish the Greens great success, genuinely, and trust that the direction Crement will take the party will be one that allows for it to better contribute to the Kingdom.

For my part, in the next Cosa I will continue to propose legislation that makes the Talossan case for good in the world. That encourages a more peculiarly progressive take on Talossanity, and demonstrates that the character and behavior of others need not be cause for you to sink to their level. Recent events have reminded me that we can choose to be whatever we want and that a choice to be kind, empathetic, and patient has its own rewards. In the face of unkind words I choose kindness and courage. Courage is contagious. And I hope that spreads in the Kingdom ever farther.

As mentioned by the Secretary of State, you can vote in the one of the following ways:

• by using the electronic form on the Database: https://database.talossa.com/elections/august-2026-elections/vote/48e81f6b-a21f-475c-83ae-7e1446415569
• by posting on Wittenberg on the official polling place thread: https://wittenberg.talossa.com/index.php?topic=5436
• by compiling the PDF ballot included with this message (either digitally or by printing and scanning) and sending it by email to this same address
• by compiling the PDF ballot included with this message and sending it by post (snail mail) - contact the Secretary of State for instructions

Breneir

Quote from: Marcel Eðo Pairescu Tafial, UrGP on August 15, 2026, 12:02:55 PMI've been showing the mail-in ballot around my groups of friends and they've all loved it so far. Great work as always, Lüc!

Well, they could cast one themselves (in 9 months most likely) if they applied for citizenship? 👀

Quote from: GV on August 15, 2026, 10:23:25 AMWhatever result comes of this election, Sir Lüc, your work on all aspects of this event continues to be outstanding.  Month after month and Clark after Clark, you and MPF build on the good work of your predecessors, setting your chair next to them and sharing their table as one of them and in the best traditions of Talossa administrative competence.

GV, Senator for Fiova

Thank you, GV! Unfortunately MPF has been "retired" for quite some time now, but I'm proud to continue building on his legacy.

Sent out: Aug 15, 2026, 10:23 AM TDT / 3:23 PM UTC
Submitted by: Alexandreu Davinescu on behalf of the Progressive Alliance
Count: 1 of 2 allowed after Balloting Day (next one: 22 Aug or later)

---

<prog logo>

We've had six months of Progressive government, and a lot has gotten done for the people of Talossa!  But we need your support to get more built for you, like some real physical embassies, some beautiful paper maps, and a new approach to our national website.  We want to build real things to serve your needs!

The election is here... vote Progressive, and let's get even more done for you!



<link: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/isC6AS3gVjs>
<link: https://talossa.com/infoteca>
<link: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dCgsJlQpXZ8>

What Have We Done?
We remade the entire immigration system, eliminated a huge vulnerability exposing your personal information, made a bunch of promotional videos and Reddit posts, ran an experiment to show they worked, revamped and massively updated our information portal of Infotecă, centralized government positions and major policies for the first time ever, managed top get the civil service to reopen our merchandise store after a long time, eliminated the government's ability to secretly control immigration, eliminated the ability of the Seneschal to make permanent laws by themselves with just His Majesty's agreement, and fought tooth and nail to preserve the Senate.  It's been the most productive term in years... let's keep it rolling!

What Do We Want to Do?
We still need some private partners to launch a central depository of files and images, plus starter kits for organizations.  Have an idea?  Let us help you make it a reality!  Plus, we still want to rework the whole way the Government is structured -- we need your support to reform it for a new age!

We have new ideas, too!  We want to establish physical embassies around the world, with a goal of at least three.  And we want to make real maps of our territory -- beautiful, professional-looking maps anyone can print -- to hang in our new embassies!  And we want to overhaul our entire web presence, so that we're not so completely dominated by a web forum.  Our plans are so good that even our main opponents in the election are happy with them!  Let's have another blockbuster term: vote Progressive!

<prog logo>

The election is live and all 137 ballots have been sent out as of 10:07 TDT. Happy voting!

The election is live! Happy voting!

Please use this thread for voting only. It will be strictly moderated. All inquiries, feedback, commentary, etc. should go in the feedback thread.