Every month, the busiest neighborhoods in the city elect a Mayor. The Mayor gets the neighborhood’s Town Hall — a community property they own, furnish and run — plus a priority channel on the Bulletin Board, a “(Mayor)” tag next to their name on every property in their neighborhood, and a public star rating that follows them into every future election.
Where to find all of this
Everything lives on the Neighborhood Page. Open it by zooming out to the city map and clicking a neighborhood, by clicking a neighborhood’s name on any property page, or by finding it through the search gizmo.
The page has four tabs: Info, Top 10 Properties, Top 10 Sims and Mayor. The Mayor tab is the one that matters here — current Mayor, star rating, resident comments, the Town Hall, the election countdown, and your Nominate / Vote / Rate buttons.
You will also get in-game email at every stage of the cycle. Ballots arrive as mail with a button on them, so you can nominate and vote straight from your inbox.
Which neighborhoods hold elections?
Not all of them. Only the top 4 most active neighborhoods get elections. Activity is the total time players spent on lots in that neighborhood over the last 7 days, added up across every visit. Your neighborhood’s rank is shown on its page as “#N in Activity”.
- A neighborhood without elections becomes eligible once it ranks in the top 4.
- A neighborhood with elections loses them if it drops to rank 5 or worse.
- Neighborhoods reserved for M.O.M.I. never hold elections at all.
Eligibility is only re-checked when a new cycle is about to begin, so a neighborhood cannot gain or lose its elections in the middle of one.
If your neighborhood drops out, the sitting Mayor is removed at the end of that month. The Town Hall stays open to visitors — it just cannot be edited any more, and the donated objects stay exactly where they are. Throw a farewell party, and then take your Free Vote (see below).
The election calendar
One cycle per month, running through roughly the last week of the month, always ending on a Monday.
- Nominations — the first ~4 days. Everyone eligible nominates one resident. Sims who reach 2 nominations are emailed an invitation to run.
- Voting — the final 3 days. The ballot is locked to the top 5 who accepted, and everyone eligible casts a single vote.
- Results — Monday. Votes are counted, the new Mayor takes office, and the Town Hall changes hands immediately.
Phases advance once a day at midnight server time, which is when the emails and bulletin posts for the new phase go out. If you log in partway through a phase and have not had your ballot yet, it is delivered on login.
A term lasts until the next cycle, about a month. There are no term limits — a sitting Mayor can be re-elected indefinitely, and the game tracks consecutive terms, which are shown on the ballot. The sitting Mayor gets a reminder email when a new cycle starts, warning that the Town Hall goes with the office.
Who can take part?
To nominate, vote, or be Mayor of a neighborhood you must:
- Live there. Your Sim’s primary property must be in that neighborhood. Visiting does not count, and neither does owning something elsewhere.
- Have lived there for 14 days. Moved more recently? You are out for this cycle — nominating, voting and running alike. (Rating the Mayor and posting on the bulletin board need only 7 days.)
- Not be suspended from neighborhood gameplay.
The rule people trip over most: you get one nomination and one vote per election — across all of your Sims and across any related accounts (same real household). Your other Sims cannot top up your vote, and neither can a second account. What they can do is take part in elections in other neighborhoods. Votes and nominations are final: no changing, no withdrawing.
A resident’s vote is worth 2. A free-vote enrollee from another neighborhood is worth 1.
Nominations
During the nomination phase, open the Mayor tab (or the emailed ballot) and pick one resident to nominate. The list shows every eligible resident; anyone with stars beside their name has been Mayor before — click the stars to read what their old neighbors said.
You can nominate yourself. The dialog offers exactly that: Myself / Someone Else / Nobody.
Being nominated is not the same as running. At 2 nominations you are emailed an invitation to run, and you must accept it and write a campaign message before nominations close. Ignore the email and you are off the ballot, however many nominations you had.
Your campaign message is a short pitch printed under your name on every voter’s ballot — the only campaigning tool built into the game. Make it worth reading.
When nominations close, the top 5 nominated Sims who accepted go on the ballot, ranked by total nomination weight. Everyone who missed the cut is emailed to say whether they fell short on nominations or simply never accepted in time. Each candidate is re-checked at this point — still resident, still in good standing, still past the 14-day rule — and anyone who fails is dropped.
Voting and results
The ballot shows up to five candidates, each with their campaign message, their star rating from past terms, and a tag: Newcomer, Ex-Mayor of a named neighborhood, or Running for Nth Consecutive Term.
Pick one, confirm, done. You get a confirmation email, and there is no changing your mind.
At the end of the cycle the candidate with the highest total vote weight wins. The winner is validated one last time: they must still live in the neighborhood and be in good standing when the votes are counted. If the leader no longer qualifies, the next-highest takes it. Then the winner is emailed their vote count, the runners-up are told they lost, the full result is posted to the bulletin board, everyone gets a “Your new Mayor!” email, and the Town Hall changes owner immediately.
If no candidate accepts, or nobody votes, the election falls through to failsafe: no Mayor that month, the Town Hall reverts to unowned until the next cycle, and the game emails everyone a story about a llama being elected. It is not a bug.
Free Votes — for everyone else
If your neighborhood is not eligible for elections, you are offered a Free Vote: enroll in one other neighborhood’s election, anywhere in the city, and take part in it. Back a friend, or help decide who runs the Town Hall you actually hang out at.
- An enrollment email arrives when your own cycle would have started; its button lets you pick the neighborhood.
- Once enrolled you receive that neighborhood’s nomination and voting ballots.
- Your vote and nomination are worth 1 instead of 2.
- You cannot change which neighborhood you are enrolled in until the next cycle.
- Your last move must have happened before that election cycle started.
- Free-voters can nominate and vote, but you can only be a candidate where you actually live.
What being Mayor actually gets you
- The Town Hall. A community property you own, name, furnish, staff with donators and open to the city.
- The “(Mayor)” tag. Your name reads “YourSim (Mayor)” on every property in your neighborhood, for everyone in the room.
- Bulletin priority. Your posts go out on the Mayor channel, once a day instead of once every three days. You can also promote any resident’s community post to that channel.
- A public record. Your star rating and residents’ comments attach to your Sim and appear on every future ballot, in any neighborhood.
The Town Hall
The Town Hall is a community property owned by whoever is currently Mayor. From the Mayor tab you can Create New Town Hall or Move Town Hall.
- M.O.M.I. pays for the land. You pay a flat §2,000 processing fee — to place it, and again to move it.
- It must go inside your own neighborhood, on an empty tile. You cannot evict anyone.
- As owner you can change its name and description from the Property Page, set the admission list, and change environment settings.
Normal vs donated objects — read this before you furnish
There are two ways to place objects on a community lot, chosen in Buy mode.
Normal placement costs the full catalog price, has the standard object limit, and the objects come back to your inventory any time — including when you stop being Mayor.
Donate placement costs 1/3 of the catalog price (66% off) and has a much higher object limit, but donated objects can never come back to you. They cannot be sold or refunded, they belong to the neighborhood permanently, and they survive every change of Mayor. The game warns you each time you open your inventory on a community lot, for good reason — do not donate rare objects you care about.
Put anything you want to keep down in Normal mode. Donate the fixtures.
Donators and Benefactors
You do not have to furnish it alone. From the House panel (F4), Roommates section, you can whitelist any number of Sims:
- Donator — can donate and move Buy-mode objects, from the catalog at 1/3 price or from their own inventory, and use roommate-level interactions on objects and Sims.
- Benefactor — everything a Donator can do, plus build-mode tools (walls, floors) and removing build-mode objects.
Only the Mayor can delete Buy-mode or Mayor-owned objects, and donators cannot manage the admit/ban list. Whatever a donator places is donated — it can never return to their inventory either, so warn your helpers before they go shopping.
The donator whitelist resets whenever the Mayor changes. Get re-elected and your donators carry over untouched.
Ratings — holding your Mayor to account
Live in the neighborhood for 7 days and a Rate button appears on the Mayor tab.
- Give 0 to 5 stars (half-stars allowed) plus a comment of up to 200 characters.
- Ratings are anonymous to other players.
- You can rate again at any time — it replaces your previous rating and comment.
- You cannot rate yourself, and you can only rate the current Mayor of the neighborhood you live in.
Comments appear on the Mayor tab under “What residents have to say…”, and the star rating follows that Sim onto every future ballot, in any neighborhood. Keep it fair — a rating is a performance review, not a weapon.
Rules, and how to lose it all
Neighborhood gameplay has its own rules, published at thenewsimsonline.com/neighborhood-rules. Two matter most:
- No bribery. Promising payouts, giveaways or objects in exchange for votes will likely get you disqualified — and votes cast for a disqualified candidate are wasted.
- No personal attacks. Not in campaign messages, not in rating comments, not on the bulletin board.
Moderators can issue a Neighborhood Gameplay Ban for offensive rating comments or bulletin posts. While suspended you cannot nominate, vote, run, rate or post — and if you are standing for election, you are removed from the ballot. Suspensions run for a set number of days or permanently, and you are emailed the reason and duration.
Leaving office
You stop being Mayor when someone else wins, or when your neighborhood loses eligibility. Either way, at once:
- Your non-donated objects on the Town Hall are returned to your inventory.
- Donated objects stay — they belong to the neighborhood now.
- The donator whitelist is wiped, and the new Mayor starts fresh.
- The “(Mayor)” tag disappears from your name.
- Your star rating and residents’ comments stay on your record.
You get an email either way — “Out with the Old” if you were beaten, “No Longer Mayor” if the neighborhood lost its elections.
Quick reference
- Neighborhoods with elections: top 4 by activity (last 7 days)
- Elections lost at rank: 5 or worse
- Term length: about 1 month, ending on a Monday
- Nomination phase: until 3 days before the end of the cycle
- Voting phase: the final 3 days
- Nominations needed to be invited to run: 2
- Candidates on the final ballot: top 5 who accepted
- Days resident before you can nominate, vote or run: 14
- Days resident before you can rate or post: 7
- Nominations and votes per household per election: 1 each
- Resident vote weight: 2 — free-vote weight: 1
- Rating scale: 0 to 5 stars, 200-character comment
- Town Hall placement or move fee: §2,000
- Donated object discount: 66% off
- Bulletin posts: 1 per day for the Mayor, 1 per 3 days for residents
Frequently asked
I was nominated. Am I on the ballot?
Not yet. Open the “Run for Election!” email, accept, and write a campaign message before nominations close. Then you need to finish in the top 5 by nominations.
Can I nominate myself?
Yes.
Can I vote with my other Sims?
No. One nomination and one vote per election across all your Sims and any related accounts. Your other Sims can take part in other neighborhoods’ elections.
I just moved here. Why is everything greyed out?
The 14-day residency rule. You will be able to take part in the next cycle.
My neighborhood has no election. Can I still play?
Yes — take your Free Vote and enroll in another neighborhood’s election. Watch for the “Free Vote Enrollment” email.
Can I change my vote?
No. Votes and nominations are final, which is why the confirmation dialog asks twice.
What happens to the stuff I put in the Town Hall when I lose?
Normal-placed objects come back to your inventory. Donated objects stay with the neighborhood forever.
Is my rating comment anonymous?
To other players, yes. Moderators can see who wrote it if it is reported.
Can I be Mayor of two neighborhoods?
No — you are Mayor of the neighborhood your primary property is in, and only there.
Do I keep my star rating if I lose?
Yes. It is attached to your Sim permanently and shown on every ballot you appear on.