The Court thanks you for your questions. As these directly relate to the interpretation of HCLQ 2003 Legality of Closed Local Council Elections (link), the Court has decided to answer your questions through reference to that case rather than through starting a separate legal question. Should you seek further clarification beyond the explanation provided below, please indicate such on this thread. If you are interested in the applicability of rights other than the right to vote under Article III, Section 4 of the Charter, it may be advisable to lodge a separate legal question. It is important to note that this response does not constitute a formal ruling from the Court; nonetheless it was written by Justice Nat and reviewed by Chief Justice Kringle.

The case under question, HCLQ 2003, found that all users who qualify as members of the Coalition have the right to vote under Article III, Section 4 of the Charter.¹ The previous case HCLQ 1708 Members of the Coalition (link) gave extensive treatment to what being a member of the Coalition means. In essence, membership is conferred on those who reside in either the physical region or the forums, unless they are doing so in bad faith.² It was clarified in HCLQ 2003 that membership of the Coalition extends to those without World Assembly membership in the region, including those who are on active military service for the Coalition.¹ It must be noted that the rights and privileges of membership are conferred on the user and not on the individual nation, such that a user with multiple nations does not have the right to vote multiple times.³ Thus, the Charter in Article III, Section 4 confers the right to vote upon all members of the Coalition.

The question may arise regarding whether all members should expect to access their rights in exactly the same way as other members. It is clear in HCLQ 2003 that the Court does not see an issue with having multiple different voting systems to ensure that every member of the Coalition can vote. Provided that every member is able to vote through one of the systems that are employed, there is no violation of the requirements stipulated in Article III, Section 4 of the Charter.⁴ It was not found that the law provides any requirement regarding the relative difficultly of voting via different mechanisms, provided that the requirement of HCLQ 2003 is held: that such voting methods are available, publicised, and furnish a reasonable opportunity to vote.⁴ With that in mind, no legal issue should arise unless a member of the Coalition is unable to vote through any of the methods which are provided.

Footnotes