some more info:

1) being registered at maemo.org is a good thing in general, not only because of the elections. you can influence news rankings, make comments in the downloads section about certain applications etc. - if you're interested in the tablet ecosystem, you should have an account. really. (and while you're at it: register at bugzilla, too. you'll not want to once you finally have identified a bug you're willing to report.)

2) karma is easy for the regulars. here's how it's calculated from forum posts and thanks:
karma = sqrt(posts) + sqrt(thanks)*8
so if you posted 100 times or got thanked 2 times it should be enough.

3) being registered also allows you to be a candidate yourself. you need more karma, though. (100)