RESOLUTION I propose amending the Debian Constitution as follows:
>If, at the close of the nomination period for a Debian Project Leader >election, only one valid candidate has been nominated, the nomination period >shall be automatically extended by 21 days; during this extended period, >additional candidates may be nominated in accordance with the usual nomination >requirements; if, at the end of the extended period, only one valid candidate >remains, the campaigning period shall begin as normal without further delay. >If this amendment takes effect at a time when the most recent Debian Project >Leader election had only one valid candidate and no extended nomination period >was applied, an additional Debian Project Leader election shall be held within >3 months of this amendment taking effect. RATIONALE As we can presently see, it is possible for a Debian Project Leader Election to have only a single candidate, which effectively turns the campaigning period into a waste of time devoid of discussion or participation. It is not even for a lack of interest that this year's election is uncontested, as there is at least one example of an individual unfortunately nominating themselves a day late (https://lists.debian.org/debian-vote/2026/03/msg00027.html). Moreover, by the current rules, 1 week is deemed plenty of time for nominations, yet three weeks of non-campaigning is deemed an essential, productive use of time; this contradiction immediately falls apart upon scrutiny because these three weeks would be put to better use making the election more competitive. Thus, extending nominations to prevent situations like these would make election outcomes more legitimate and increase confidence in leadership.
