User blog comment:FTWinchester/On EmpyreanSmoke's Case/@comment-5619706-20141202123619

And to get this over with, here are my 5 cents on the matter.

The community's doubts are not without basis. Even from a neutral standpoint, it does not look good that the first two votes Empyrean has received were from 2 new users, both of which were created very close to the time of the request for beauraucracy, cast their votes in a very short span of time, AND share the same address.

It's not so much just the creation of the accounts, but it's the context wherein they were used and how they acted. They barely had any contributions to the wiki and yet they were expressing full support on matters that are quite complex. The problem is not just because of one mistake--it's multifaceted.

Add this to the point that some users and admins have problems with how you got your adminship to begin with, and this makes things quite messy.

But this is not to say you can't clear your name. Like I said, because of the nature of the internet, it's hard to take just the word of a stranger. "Innocent until proven guilty" is not something you can just parrot here when we have no means of verifying your messages and intent.

I suggest you three need to post (even temporarily, as files could be deleted) photos that prove you are three different people. Although, this only actually clears up the "sockpuppeteering" charge, since "gaming the system" is another matter entirely. Point is, even if they are actual persons, asking for close friends and relatives to sign up for the wiki just to canvass votes leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Of course friends and family will vote for you, but unless they are already established in the wiki, it is an unfair advantage because they do not have much idea how things work here, and ideally, their vote should bear equal weight to those who have been here longer and actually devoting time and effort to improve the wiki.

My final suggestion is, after you prove that you are different people, you be given the rights of a standard user, but I withhold my judgment on you being an admin, at least not for the time being. You can't blame other users for being extra cautious, given the mishap that happened.