Election phase started with no candidates

Question

I just noticed that the 2019 pro-tem election moved to the Election phase with no candidates nominating. Which means it's impossible to vote.

I thought that if the nomination phase of an election finishes with no candidates nominating, it's supposed to be extended. But why didn't that happen?

Is it because the extension process has to be done manually by an employee, and it simply hasn't been done yet?

(Side question: is the site being properly moderated by the existing three, who have been serving since 2013, or is it at risk of closure should no new candidates step up?)

Answer 1

Yes, this was my fault. We manually check elections to be sure there are enough candidates to proceed and I failed to check this election. I've extended the nomination stage by a week so that we can try getting enough candidates.

In the spirit of fixing everything twice we're looking into an alert to remind us to check for this sort of problem in the future before the election proceeds on its own.

Answer 2

This entire process is new to everyone, including us. Pro Tem Mods by election is new, and it's likely bugs need to get worked out.

According to a Meta.SE question I posted, it was likely the election would get extended - but not confirmed by SE staff.

I'm hoping it gets extended, and other people choose to step up and nominate themselves, but I can't force anyone. If there is a lack of community involvement, it is possible for sites to go down.