Poll: Should the following amendment be adopted?

**Amerion** · 11-24-2018, 05:30 AM

Legislators,

A proposal has been introduced to amend Articles 1 and 2 of the Elections Act.

The debate thread can be found here.

A motion and a second have been received to bring this amendment to a vote.

As this proposal is for an amendment to a constitutional law, the voting period is five days and will require a three-fifths supermajority to pass. The vote will end on 29 November, 2018, at 9:30 a.m. (UTC).

Please vote by poll if possible. If you cannot vote by poll, post 'Aye', 'Nay' or 'Abstain' in this thread. Please do not vote both by poll and by post. Comments and discussion belong in the debate thread and may be moved there.

Quote: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.

(1) An Election Commissioner will be appointed by the Council on Regional Security to administer all forum elections.

(2) The commissioners Commissioner 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 The Commissioner may not run for office or hold the office of Delegate, Prime Minister, or Cabinet Minister, during their tenure on the commission as Commissioner.

(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.

(4) The Commissioner will be a permanent position and shall be replaced as needed due to inactivity or ineligibility by the Council on Regional Security. The Assembly may remove, by a majority vote, a Commissioner for abuse of power or neglect of responsibilities.

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

Quote:2. Electoral System

...

(3) Voters will have the option to cast their privately vote using a secret ballot. The method of private voting will be selected by the Election Commission. The method must utilize an unaffiliated account or server, with the method and all votes remaining available for audit. Named ballots are not to be released under any circumstances.

(4) To be eligible to be included in a voting ballot, any candidate must post a campaign in an area designated by the Election Commission. The campaign must prominently include a truthful declaration of all potential conflicts of interest the candidate may have within and outside of the South Pacific.

There is a typographical error in the amendment to Article 2, specifically 'Voters will have the option to cast their privately vote using a secret ballot.' I am consulting with former Chairs on whether I can correct this error while the vote is taking place and will provide updates on the situation. Apologies for the mistake (Tip of the hat to @Qaweritoyu for pointing it out).

Edit: Having consulted with the Deputy Chairs and past Chairs, I have come to the conclusion that the best course of action is to use the Chair's discretionary powers and correct the error after the amendment is adopted, assuming it passes.

(This post was last modified: 11-29-2018, 06:55 AM by Amerion.)

Mitandersfors · 11-24-2018, 07:51 AM

aye

**Belschaft** · 11-24-2018, 08:55 AM

Point of order: The poll has been set to not display voter identity, and thus people can vote twice via poll and by posting.

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

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**Amerion** · 11-24-2018, 09:12 AM

(11-24-2018, 08:55 AM)Belschaft Wrote: Point of order: The poll has been set to not display voter identity, and thus people can vote twice via poll and by posting.

I apologise for this mistake. I will double check future polls have that option selected.

As for voter identity, I am able to see who voted in the poll and, as always, will release a tally at the conclusion of this poll which will include who voted for what.

Edit: It appears I can select that option after all. I have done so. Thank you for pointing out the error.

(This post was last modified: 11-24-2018, 09:14 AM by Amerion.)

**Amerion** · 11-29-2018, 06:57 AM

The vote to amend Articles 1 and 2 of the Elections Act has passed.

The final tally is 30 in favour, 5 in opposition, with 9 abstentions.

A spreadsheet of the vote is attached for your convenience.

Attached Files
.pdf

Amendment to Articles 1 and 2 of the Elections Act (Election Commission).pdf (Size: 41.26 KB / Downloads: 4)

Poll: Should the following amendment be adopted? You do not have permission to vote in this poll.
Aye	67.44%	29	67.44%
Nay	11.63%	5	11.63%
Abstain	20.93%	9	20.93%
Total		43 vote(s)	100%