| LegComm: Accepted Change in the Criminal Code and Penal Code |
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So.... to provide a sounding board to those who just say "SOUNDS GOOD!", how does one determine what is or isn't vote stacking? Whose job is it/will it be to determine such a thing? Is the person doing the inviting the one charged? The ones who join and vote, are they also charged? Wouldn't someone just circumvent this by not announcing who invited them? And if you claim we could just look at voting patterns, couldn't someone organize a group to come in, vote a certain way, for a certain candidate, without the consent or knowledge of that candidate and have it look too much like vote stacking by said candidate, thereby causing them to run afoul of this law?
(02-21-2015, 12:48 AM)Severisen Wrote: So.... to provide a sounding board to those who just say "SOUNDS GOOD!", how does one determine what is or isn't vote stacking? Whose job is it/will it be to determine such a thing? Is the person doing the inviting the one charged? The ones who join and vote, are they also charged? Wouldn't someone just circumvent this by not announcing who invited them? And if you claim we could just look at voting patterns, couldn't someone organize a group to come in, vote a certain way, for a certain candidate, without the consent or knowledge of that candidate and have it look too much like vote stacking by said candidate, thereby causing them to run afoul of this law? Really -- it would be for the court to decide. As for not telling anyone about it, yes. This would have the same weakness as all of our laws in that if someone didn't put it in writing, we'd never know about it.
-tsunamy
[forum admin]
I doubt that is a law that could ever be enforced. If Bels had been more careful he clearly could have gotten away with it. I am, however, concerned that this could deter people from inviting their friends.
I don't know if this would be viable, but perhaps after every election, the Court could convene as a Court of Disputed Returns for citizens to file legal challenges, including legal questions related to elections. This is what occurs IRL in places like Australia, but I'm not sure if this will be applicable here, nor am I sure if this will infringe upon the duties of the EC.
(02-21-2015, 01:06 AM)Sopo Wrote: I doubt that is a law that could ever be enforced. If Bels had been more careful he clearly could have gotten away with it. I am, however, concerned that this could deter people from inviting their friends.I think that this proposal could not discourage people to invite friends. But it could discourage vote stackers a bit, as it will be an official crime. I agree that this law could hardly ever been enforced, but when it is enforced, it will be.
Deputy Regional Minister of the Planning and Development Agency(March 8-May 19, 2014)
Local Council Member(April 24-August 11) Court Justice of TSP(August 15-December 7)
Much like any crime carried out discreetly, unless any concrete evidence is brought to light, it is unlikely that anyone could prove vote stacking or other forms of Electoral Fraud. Needless to say, this does not discourage anyone from inviting people to the region, however, depending on the timing, they could be viewed with suspicion. Otherwise, I see no such threat.
What if 5.5 read like this:
5. Vexatious Charges shall be defined as the filing of criminal charges against another member nation despite the filing party's knowledge that that said charges were meritless, frivolous, repetitive, and/or burdensome. The focus should be keeping someone from filing charges that he or she knows is complete garbage just for manipulation or bullying purposes. It shouldn't keep someone who honestly believes a crime was committed from coming forward.
Turtles all the way down.
Here's some more suggestions:
Article 5: Criminal Code 1. Treason shall be defined as plotting against the Coalition, seeking to lower the delegate's endorsement count without his or her consent, breaking the endorsement cap after receiving an official warning, aiding any entity in which the Coalition is taking defensive action against, or any entity in which a state of war exists with. 2. Identity fraud shall be defined as a deception made of one's self, or knowingly abetting in another's claims to a false identity, wherein this fraud threatens the security of The South Pacific, or circumvents the laws and legal processes of The South Pacific. 3. Blackmail shall be defined as demanding private gains from a player in return for not revealing compromising or injurious information. 4. Miscarriage of Justice shall be defined as a deliberate perversion of the justice system - conduct which prevents the judiciary from reaching a true and just result. 5. Organised crime shall be defined as involvement in a group or association with the intent of committing an unlawful act in The South Pacific. 6. Corruption shall be defined as the misuse of public office for private or personal advantage. 7. Vote stacking shall be defined as a manipulation of the democratic process in The South Pacific, wherein an organised body of abettors conspire to obtain citizenship with the intent to vote for private or personal advantage. 8. Vexatious Charges shall be defined as the filing of criminal charges against another player despite the filing party's knowledge that that said charges were meritless, frivolous, repetitive, and/or burdensome. 9. Conduct violations shall be defined as breaking in-game NationStates rules.
In order:
Archerinia, that wording gives precedence to individual opinion, rather than factual evidence. Any interpretation of the law should not specify individual opinion as fact. Uni, I've been trying to be as non-specific as possible in terms of vote stacking to try and take into account any and all other forms of election manipulation. Perhaps "Electoral Fraud" would be a better term?
Sounds good-
Article 5: Criminal Code 1. Treason shall be defined as plotting against the Coalition, seeking to lower the delegate's endorsement count without his or her consent, breaking the endorsement cap after receiving an official warning, aiding any entity in which the Coalition is taking defensive action against, or any entity in which a state of war exists with. 2. Identity fraud shall be defined as a deception made of one's self, or knowingly abetting in another's claims to a false identity, wherein this fraud threatens the security of The South Pacific, or circumvents the laws and legal processes of The South Pacific. 3. Blackmail shall be defined as demanding private gains from a player in return for not revealing compromising or injurious information. 4. Miscarriage of Justice shall be defined as a deliberate perversion of the justice system - conduct which prevents the judiciary from reaching a true and just result. 5. Organised crime shall be defined as involvement in a group or association with the intent of committing an unlawful act in The South Pacific. 6. Corruption shall be defined as the misuse of public office for private or personal advantage. 7. Electoral Fraud shall be defined as a manipulation of the democratic process in The South Pacific, wherein an organised body of abettors conspire to obtain citizenship with the intent to vote for private or personal advantage. 8. Vexatious Charges shall be defined as the filing of criminal charges against another player despite the filing party's knowledge that that said charges were meritless, frivolous, repetitive, and/or burdensome. 9. Conduct violations shall be defined as breaking in-game NationStates rules. Article 6: Penal Code 1. If found guilty of an act of treason, the offending nation will be immediately banned from the in-game region and offsite forums. 2. Conduct violations are punishable by immediate ejection and banishment from the region, albeit punished parties may appeal this decision to the court. In most cases, nations that appeal the decision and apologize should expect to have their ban lifted. 3. If found guilty of any other crime listed above, the Judiciary will determine a sentence. The sentence must be proportionate to the offense. |
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