If a whale wanted to split their stake they'd have to power down. With the current divestment schedule, that's not possible or likely to happen in time to make a difference in the elections. It is highly unlikely someone would go to those extremes.
All votes will be scrutinized. If the anti-abuse community can find most scam rings then voting fraud attempts will be found just as easily. The penalty is pretty serious and its best to not even attempt any sort of dishonesty.
Users who are blacklisted should apply for an appeal if they want to participate. That's why only the Steemcleaners blacklist is used. It's a blacklist with due process and any person who isn't on it for fraud or something equally serious such as theft through hacking will have a chance (for example, someone who is on for a failed verification, which they can easily resolve within minutes). At the end of the day this is a legal entity and the persons elected must be trustworthy. Someone who was caught for identity theft, for example, is not the right person to represent Steem. I seriously doubt this will come up and if it does then we'll inform the public.
While I agree most voters will look into who they're voting for, we can't expect every voter to spend days going over every transaction of a candidate, particularly if they don't know them well.
This isn't a paid role and it can't be used for any sort of self-promotion or personal profit. I expect we'll see dedicated persons who are genuinely interested in Steem applying for it.
I know we'll see plenty of good folks that want to be as useful as can be to Steem seeking these positions. I fear we'll also see, as we do IRL, minions, easily influenced but well meaning folks, and outright profiteers put forward and, due to the Sybilline potential of botnets, nefarious characters seeking to put them in positions they believe will profit them.
I'm far less concerned about an account blacklisted for malicious acts directly seeking these positions than I am those folks using accounts that are not known to be associated with them to do so, or, what I consider most likely from how these things are done in the real world, simply backing someone they can count on for the position.
There seems to be little that can be done about that IRL, and it doesn't seem any easier on Steem. I don't expect many folks blacklisted by Steemcleaners to seek these positions, but I hope if any do the folks running the election carefully consider all relevant matters before deciding one way or another whether they can stand for election. I am absolutely sure the folks I know that are filling those positions now are very dedicated, diligent, and thoughtful people, and if they're handling it, they'll exceed my expectations.
They always do.
Thanks!
Couldn't have said it better myself. I 100% agree with you.