Hey all -- so, I think it's about time we have a discussion about Article 1 of the Code of Law. (Our election rules.) Currently, we have 16 different clauses under the Article 1.

As such I'd like us to move from this:

Article 1: Elections


1. Elections for all Cabinet positions shall commence on the fifteenth of every March, July, and November.
2. Elections for Court Justices shall commence on the first of every April, August, and December.
3. Terms for all Cabinet positions shall commence on the first of every April, August, and December, and terms for Justices shall commence on the fifteenth of every April, August, and December.
4. All elections shall consist of a pre-voting period lasting six days and a voting period lasting three days. Citizens shall have to declare their candidacy or accept their nomination within the first three days of the pre-voting period.
5. Runoff elections will begin within twenty-four hours of the initial vote closing and consist of a voting period lasting three days.
6. No one can run for or hold more than one Cabinet position, or more than one Justice position, or both a Cabinet and a Justice position at any given time.
7. Candidates for elections may self-declare or be nominated by another Citizen. Candidates must file a Conflict of Interest Disclosure at the time of their acceptance of a nomination or self-declaration.
8. Nominations may be accepted in absentia, as long as they are sent to the Election Commissioner at most two weeks before the start of the pre-voting period, and include a Conflict of Interest disclosure.
9. Conflict of Interest Disclosures must include current World Assembly Nation, all past and present aliases used, all past and present involvement in other regions and organizations, and all current positions held across NationStates.
10. The Delegate and Vice Delegate will run on a joint ticket and be elected by a majority vote. If no ticket receives a majority vote a runoff election with the two tickets receiving the most votes will occur.
11. Cabinet offices will be voted on separately and be elected by a plurality vote. Court Justices will be voted through a single ballot, with the three candidates who receive the most votes winning seats.
12. In all elections an option to re-open nominations will be included. For non-judicial elections, if this option receives the most votes the nomination period for that office will be restarted.
13. For Court Justice elections, if the option to Re-Open Nominations receives enough votes to be placed within the top four, then the nomination period will be restarted for all seats with lesser votes than this option. The candidates who receive the top votes will win however many seats are left to be filled.
14. In the event that no candidate runs for an available office the newly elected Cabinet will appoint a Citizen to fill the vacancy.
15. Vacancies in office occur when the office holder resigns, is recalled, or no longer holds citizenship. In the event of a vacancy in office a special election will begin within 72 hours of the office becoming vacant, unless the vacancy occurs in the month prior to the start of the term for the position in question; in this case the Cabinet will appoint a Citizen to fill the vacated position for the remainder of the term.
16. Elections will be run by a member of the forum administration staff or their designee. A designated Election Commissioner may be appointed if all members of the administration staff will be candidates in the given election, or if no administer is able to be an Election Commissioner.

... to this:

Article 1: Elections

Section 1 - General Elections
1. Elections for all Cabinet positions shall commence on the fifteenth of every March, July, and November.
2. Elections for Court Justices shall commence on the first of every April, August, and December.
3. Terms for all Cabinet positions shall commence on the first of every April, August, and December, and terms for Justices shall commence on the fifteenth of every April, August, and December.
4. All elections shall consist of a pre-voting period lasting six days and a voting period lasting three days. Citizens shall have to declare their candidacy or accept their nomination within the first three days of the pre-voting period.
5. Runoff elections will begin within twenty-four hours of the initial vote closing and consist of a voting period lasting three days.
6. No one can run for or hold more than one Cabinet position, or more than one Justice position, or both a Cabinet and a Justice position at any given time.
7. Candidates for elections may self-declare or be nominated by another Citizen. Candidates must file a Conflict of Interest Disclosure at the time of their acceptance of a nomination or self-declaration.
8. Nominations may be accepted in absentia, as long as they are sent to the Election Commissioner at most two weeks before the start of the pre-voting period, and include a Conflict of Interest disclosure.
9. Conflict of Interest Disclosures must include current World Assembly Nation, all past and present aliases used, all past and present involvement in other regions and organizations, and all current positions held across NationStates.

Section 2 - Position Specificities
1. The Delegate and Vice Delegate will run on a joint ticket and be elected by a majority vote. If no ticket receives a majority vote a runoff election with the two tickets receiving the most votes will occur.
2. Cabinet offices will be voted on separately and be elected by a plurality vote. Court Justices will be voted through a single ballot, with the three candidates who receive the most votes winning seats.
3. In all elections an option to re-open nominations will be included. For non-judicial elections, if this option receives the most votes the nomination period for that office will be restarted.
4. For Court Justice elections, if the option to Re-Open Nominations receives enough votes to be placed within the top four, then the nomination period will be restarted for all seats with lesser votes than this option. The candidates who receive the top votes will win however many seats are left to be filled.

Section 3 - Vacancies
1. In the event that no candidate runs for an available office the newly elected Cabinet will appoint a Citizen to fill the vacancy.
2. Vacancies in office occur when the office holder resigns, is recalled, or no longer holds citizenship. In the event of a vacancy in office a special election will begin within 72 hours of the office becoming vacant, unless the vacancy occurs in the month prior to the start of the term for the position in question; in this case the Cabinet will appoint a Citizen to fill the vacated position for the remainder of the term.

Section 4 - Election Commission
1. Elections will be run by a member of the forum administration staff, acting as an election commissioner.
2. A designated Election Commissioner may be appointed if all members of the administration staff will be candidates in the given election, or if no administer is able to be an Election Commissioner.

We'd technically have 17 clauses now (I broke up 16 into two for the Election Commission), but I think this is easier to read and use. Thoughts?

-tsunamy
[forum admin]

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I agree that that section is especially unwieldy. Here's an alternative idea... Splitting Elections into a new document called the Elections Act or something like that. And divided the sections like you've outlined.

It's been my perspective that new players struggle to understand laws when they're divided into large omnibus bills - and so something like the "Elections Act" might help them organise our laws into their head.

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Ripping Article 1 from the Code of Laws and turning it into a separate document doesn't necessarily make it easier to understand, but the organization and clarification Tsu proposed would be an acceptable solution. It's even easier on the eyes too. Like stuffing a huge run-on sentence through a few Grammar Nazis.

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Reply

I agree that that section is especially unwieldy. Here's an alternative idea... Splitting Elections into a new document called the Elections Act or something like that. And divided the sections like you've outlined.

It's been my perspective that new players struggle to understand laws when they're divided into large omnibus bills - and so something like the "Elections Act" might help them organise our laws into their head.

I'll support either -- whichever everyone else likes.

-tsunamy
[forum admin]

Reply

Having recently read Article I for the first time, I think Tsunamy's changes are solid. Its current format did make it more cumbersome when I first read through it and in subsequent moments when I needed to refer to it.

Turtles all the way down.

Reply

Having recently read Article I for the first time, I think Tsunamy's changes are solid. Its current format did make it more cumbersome when I first read through it and in subsequent moments when I needed to refer to it.

Thanks Arch

-tsunamy
[forum admin]

Reply

I definitely support these organizational changes, either as proposed or in a separate act.

[Image: VjpdZ2V.png?1]

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Having recently read Article I for the first time, I think Tsunamy's changes are solid. Its current format did make it more cumbersome when I first read through it and in subsequent moments when I needed to refer to it.

Thanks Arch

Turtles all the way down.

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It would certainly make it easier to read.

Hello

Hello

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This is great, it's so much easier to read now. I support this change whole heartily.

Europeian Ambassador to The South Pacific
Former Local Council Member
Former Minister of Regional Affairs
Former High Court Justice

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