Apparently, there were to be three commanders and trainers for the new recruits and his foster father, wanting representatives from Rivendell to hold all those positions, had nominated him along with his twin sons. The rules of the elections were such that only children or foster children, in Estel's case, of Elven Lords and Kings could be nominated, which gave Mirkwood a significant advantage in the numbers of candidates. However, that spread the votes of the Mirkwood supporters and not one particular prince could obtain a majority vote.