Thanks to @Daniel for breaking the ice and being the first candidate in the election. With no slight to Daniel, who I think would do a great job, I know we have others on the site who'd also be strong candidates, and I hope they consider stepping forward.

What would happen if only one signs up by election time? :)

I guess I'd win :)

but that's no fun

I agree with @MonicaCellio That there are many people here who could make great moderators

@MonicaCellio On the other hand, why does the site need moderators?

five more +20k users=1 mod?

20k users don't handle flags

@ShmuelBrin I think SE won't run an election that doesn't have "enough" candidates. I'm not sure if "enough" is seats+1 or some other number.

@ShmuelBrin flags are one reason. While some flags on posts cause things to enter review queues, a lot of flags (including all comment flags) come to moderators to handle. And while the site grows slowly, it has grown since our first election, so there's more to do overall.

We also want to be a little more resilient in the face of absences; people take vacations or have other reasons to be away and there's no reason to depend on two mods (or sometimes one!) carrying more of the load when we could grow the team.

And, speaking just for myself here, it's been a long time since our last election, and bringing some fresh perspectives onto the team would benefit everyone IMO.