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**Belschaft** · 02-02-2017, 03:26 PM

The existing provisions for Separation of Powers having fallen from the statue books;

Quote:
Election Act

An act establishing elections for office

1. Election Commission

(1) An Election Commission will be appointed to administer all forum elections, consisting of at least one unique member from the following bodies, or their duly chosen surrogates--
a. The Forum Administration Team, solely to observe,
b. The Council on Regional Security,
c. The High Court.

(2) The commissioners will be responsible for the creation of election notices, the organization of election forums, the verification of candidate eligibility, the distribution and collection of ballots, and counting and verifying cast ballots.

(3) No member of the Election Commission may run for office or hold the office of Delegate, Prime Minister, or Cabinet Minister, during their tenure on the commission.

(4) The commission will be a permanent body, with members replaced as needed due to inactivity or ineligibility by their respective bodies. Two-thirds of the commission, or a majority of the Assembly, may remove a sitting commissioner for corruption or abuse of power.

(5) Any election-related disputes will be arbitrated by the Election Commission; should the dispute be on a matter of law, the Election Commission shall refer it to the High Court. Commissioners will not finalize any election until all disputes have been settled.

2. Electoral System

(1) All elections held on the regional forums will be conducted via Instant Runoff Voting (IRV).
a. The form of IRV used must be Optional Preferential Voting (OPV); voters may vote for one or multiple candidates in descending order of preference.
b. Should no candidate have an absolute majority once all votes have been counted then the candidate with the least number of votes shall be eliminated from the election.
c. The votes of those voting for the eliminated candidate will be reallocated based upon the expressed preferences, or discounted if no further preferences are expressed.
d. This process will continue until a candidate has an absolute majority.

(2) The option to Re-Open Nominations must be included as a "candidate". If elected, the election process for that candidate shall restart at the nomination phase.

3. Office of The Delegate

(1) The Delegate will be elected in a two-step process, with the Assembly voting on a slate of nominees on the forums, and the top two candidates in that process being voted on by regional poll on-site.

(2) On the first of every January and July, the Assembly will convene for the first round of Delegate elections.
a. Any legislator wishing to run for Delegate may declare their candidacy, and the Assembly will debate the merits of their platform.
b. The campaign and debate period will last one week, after which the Assembly will vote for 3 days.
c. The two candidates ranked first and second under IRV will move to a second round of voting conducted via a a poll of Native World Assembly members.

(3) After receiving the top two candidates in the forum election, the sitting Delegate will create a week-long regional poll accessible to Native World Assembly members, instructing them to vote for their preferred candidate.
a. A Dispatch containing the campaigns of both candidates will be created to aid voters in their choice.
b. The candidate who wins a majority of the votes will be declared the Delegate-elect.

(4) The incumbent Delegate will coordinate with the Delegate-elect in transitioning the seat, along with cooperation from the Council on Regional Security. Until the Delegate-elect achieves the most endorsements, the incumbent Delegate will still be responsible for all responsibilities that involve use of Delegate-restricted regional controls.

4. Offices of the Cabinet

(1) On the first of every February, June and October, the Assembly will convene to elect the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.
a. For the first 3 days of the election period, legislators may declare their candidacy for only one position.
b. Following this nomination period, a campaign period of one week will start, where candidates may campaign and the Assembly will debate the merits of their platforms.
c. After the week-long campaign period, a voting period of 3 days will start. Legislators will cast their ballots for each position. Legislators may choose to abstain from voting on any or all positions.

(2) The candidate for each position with the most votes will be declared the Minister-elect by the Election Commission.

(3) The terms for the incoming Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers will begin the week after elections, during which any and all election-related disputes must be settled. The outgoing Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers will maintain their offices until then.

5. Local Council

(1) Immediately following the ending of the Cabinet elections, the Election Commission will begin an election for the Local Council.
a. For the first 3 days of the election period, residents may declare their candidacy by telegramming an election commissioner
b. Following this nomination period, a campaign period of one week will start, where candidates may campaign and debate the merits of their platforms.
c. After the week-long campaign period, a voting period of 3 days will start.

(2) The election will be held via a regional poll accessible to World Assembly Natives, instructing them to vote for their preferred candidate.
a. A Dispatch containing the campaigns of candidates will be created to aid voters in their choice.
b. The three candidates receiving the most votes will be elected to
c. If more than twelve people are candidates, the vote will be split into multiple 3-day polls with the candidates split into groups; the top three of each group will then remain candidates, with all others eliminated, and voting will begin again.
d. Should the poll produce a tied result, then the four or more candidates in the top three places will participate in a runoff election.

6. Vacancies of Office

(1) A special election will be held for vacancies arising within the Cabinet, if more than half of the term remains. If less than half of the term remains, or the position is vacant due to nobody running in its election, the Cabinet may appoint a replacement until the next regularly scheduled election.

(2) Should the office of Delegate become vacant, the next person in the line of succession will become interim Delegate until the next regularly scheduled election. If no person qualifies for the office, then a special election will be held.

7. Separation of Powers

(1) It is not permitted for one person to serve as Delegate, Prime Minister, Chair of the Assembly, Permanent Justice, Local Council Member, or Cabinet Minister (as Defined by Article VI of the Charter) while occupying any other role in this clause, including any combination of said roles at the same time.

(2) It is permitted to seek election as Delegate, Prime Minister, Chair of the Assembly or a Cabinet Minister while occupying an existing role mentioned above.

(3) Election or appointment to a new office constitutes explicit resignation of an existing office.

(4) Members of the Committee for Regional Security are permitted to occupy other roles so long as they do not violate the restriction in 7.1.

(5) Unless otherwise stated, Article 7 is considered to apply to all explicitly named elected and confirmed offices as detailed in this 7.1.

(6) It is not permitted for one person to serve in any position in 7.1, while holding any equivalent office in any other region or organisation.

8. Constitutional Law

(1) The Election Act is a constitutional law, and further amendments to it must meet constitutional amendment requirements.

I believe my draft language is comprehensive, simple and clear in meaning. I've also taken the opportunity to make sure that each Article uses consistent formatting in regards to spacing.

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

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(This post was last modified: 02-24-2017, 06:11 PM by sandaoguo. Edit Reason: To save an argument with Glen )

***sandaoguo*** · 02-02-2017, 03:38 PM

As the Assembly never voted to repeal it, the existing separation of powers article is still valid law. It doesn't matter if the chair made an error with copyin and pasting.

Not that we should at all, but if we're going to vote it in *again*, then I (and I'm sure many others) insist that we simply use the same language. As it stands though, clerical errors don't magically repeal laws.

Here's the vote, for posterity: http://tspforums.xyz/thread-4445.html

(This post was last modified: 02-02-2017, 03:39 PM by sandaoguo.)

**Belschaft** · 02-02-2017, 03:40 PM

In most cases, yes, Glen. However, in this case the Assembly has held subsequent votes on amending the Elections Act that didn't include a separation of powers act, thus raising a question mark about whether or not it's still in legal force or has been removed. I figured the best way to resolve that question was to put separation of powers back into our laws the old fashioned way, thus ensuring clarity.

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

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(This post was last modified: 02-02-2017, 03:42 PM by Belschaft.)

***sandaoguo*** · 02-02-2017, 03:47 PM

No question is raised and any minimally reasonable person would understand that voting on those amendments didn't mean we were repealing the whole article on separation of powers.

You just used the wrong copy of the Elections Act in your draft, and then used non-standard amendment formats. You never motioned to repeal the article, and thus we never did. It's a minor clerical error.

**Belschaft** · 02-02-2017, 03:49 PM

Maybe. Maybe not. I prefer to have clarity on this issue, and that is easily achieved by a new vote on separation of powers.

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

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***sandaoguo*** · 02-02-2017, 03:57 PM

Again, this is nonsense, and I'll be submitted a legal question on this ridiculous argument that using a bad copy of a law in an amendment suddenly erases all the old votes the Assembly passed.

But if you're going to pursue this in the meantime, then the appropriate thing to do would be to adopt the *same* language of the amendment we *already passed* and *never repealed*.

And also, to not make the *same mistake* again by forever committing to not use this format of drafting laws, where you copy and paste the entire law when amending just a tiny part.

Quote:7. Separation of Powers

(1) It is not permitted for one person to serve as Delegate, Prime Minister, Chair of the Assembly, Permanent Justice, Local Council Member, or Cabinet Minister (as Defined by Article VI of the Charter) while occupying any other role in this clause, including any combination of said roles at the same time.
(2) It is permitted to seek election to Delegate, Prime Minister, Chair of the Assembly or Cabinet Minister while occupying an existing role mentioned above.
a. However, should the candidate successfully seek office then they must resign from their prior office before being allowed to assume responsibility for their newly elected office.
b. If they have not assumed the office within 3 days of the election results/confirmation vote, then they are considered to have forfeited the office and a special election should be called.
c. Where necessary, an announcement of resignation from their prior office will constitute a candidate assuming the office they have been duly elected to/confirmed for.
(3) Members of the Committee for Regional Security are permitted to occupy other roles so long as they do not violate the restriction in 7.1.
(4) Unless otherwise stated, Article 7 is considered to apply to all explicitly named elected and confirmed offices as detailed in this 7.1.
(5)It is not permitted for one person to serve in any position in 7.1, while holding the equivalent office in any other region or organization.

I've added the new policy you're seeking here, as well.

**Rebeltopia** · 02-02-2017, 04:01 PM

I'm with Bels here. A year and a half ago, we had a huge assembly blow up over this issue rolled into CoA having the power to make even the smallest change to any law after its been passed. At that time, everyone wanted to go the route of Chair can't without assembly approval, and however the law is written is how it is written and if something was omitted, then it has to be reintroduced - even if they were accidently left out.

I'd say is easy enough that such a (re)addition be voted on for clarity of the situation.

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**Belschaft** · 02-02-2017, 04:01 PM

That's not the same policy Glen; you've added the word "the", thus limiting the scope to only the specific office they hold, not equivalent offices in general.

I personally think my new language is better - it's certainly shorter and clearer - but if you want to make a huge deal about this I have no real opposition to using the old language. However, in such a case I'd argue strongly that (2)a, b and c should be replaced with my clause 4 - it is vastly simpler and to the same effect.

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

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**Belschaft** · 02-02-2017, 04:08 PM

I have edited the OP to reflect the language Glen prefers, whilst improving clarity and expanding the coverage of S.O.P.'s to other regions/orgs.

_{Minister of Media, Subversion and Sandwich Making}
^{Associate Justice of the High Court and Senior Moderator}

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***sandaoguo*** · 02-02-2017, 04:21 PM

(02-02-2017, 04:01 PM)Rebeltopia Wrote: I'm with Bels here. A year and a half ago, we had a huge assembly blow up over this issue rolled into CoA having the power to make even the smallest change to any law after its been passed. At that time, everyone wanted to go the route of Chair can't without assembly approval, and however the law is written is how it is written and if something was omitted, then it has to be reintroduced - even if they were accidently left out.

I'd say is easy enough that such a (re)addition be voted on for clarity of the situation.

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We've gotten over petty freakouts like that, for the most part. It's common practice nowadays for the Chair to fix clerical errors themselves. You know, as reasonable people would agree.

Voting on this would still set a bad precedent. But I've proposed a procedure for amendments that would ensure the precedent ends up be irrelevant anyways.

(This post was last modified: 02-02-2017, 04:22 PM by sandaoguo.)