Northeast Election Law Codification Commission

[Poirot]

I've been reviewing the regional board for the period between July 2013 and January 2014. I came across the Amendment to the Senate vacancy Act of November 2013 already posted.

There is the Supremacy Act (July 2013) that is a reminder regional election law must meet federal regulation at a minimum.

The Supremacy Act

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[Poirot]

There were two constitutional amendments in early 2014 about the December elections date so the regional election is on the same date as the federal election.

In January 2014, the Uniform December Election Day amendment
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=184820.msg3997225#msg3997225

Uniform December Election Day Amendment

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The Uniform Election Day Amendment in February 2014.
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=187341.msg4049724#msg4049724

Uniform Election Day Amendment

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[Poirot]

Good catch!  Frankly, I don't even know how or when to apply the Supremacy Act.  Do you have a link to the Assembly debate?

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=176773.0

Not much debate. The Supreme Court is cited. Maybe it was after a Court case with the IDS election laws.

[Poirot]

There was a Report of the Statutory Review Commission adopted in May 2011.
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=102877.msg2904258#msg2904258

It amended the Campaigning for Invalidation of Votes Initiative:

10. Subsections 1 and 2 of Section 1 of the The Campaigning for Invalidation of Votes Initiative are amended as follows:

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Number 22 modifies the Vacancy Filling Act but I think that Act is no longer valid.

The other topic related to elections law is:

9. The Preferential Voting Act is amended as follows:

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[Poirot]

The Vacancy Filling Act was repealed in September 2014 along with the Vacancy Mitigation Act.
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=198568.msg4305286#msg4305286

The Northeastern Debate Act was repealed in April 2014.
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=190518.0

[Poirot]

On the topic or recalls, there is on the wiki a Recall Amendment dated from 2007.
https://uselectionatlas.org/AFEWIKI/index.php/Recall_Amendment

I found a Recall Amendment of (March) 2011 that would repeal the above recall text but I'm not sure if it was adopted.
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=132696.15
It is on the wiki but no date of ratification.
https://uselectionatlas.org/AFEWIKI/index.php/The_Recall_Amendment_of_2011

Recall was included in Article IV of the October 2011 Northeast Constitution.
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=137342.msg3053049#msg3053049

[Poirot]

As pointes out in June 2013, the amendment to lower the percentage needed to change the regional constitution did not pass.
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=162633.msg3772107#msg3772107

[Poirot]

In August 2015, voters approved a few changes related to elections.

A maximum of two consecutive full terms for Governor.
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=217011.0

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A residency requirement for Governor.
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=216256.0

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A competitive amendment for the number of seats.
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=215792.0

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2. Article II, Clause 14 of the Northeast Constitution shall be amended to read:

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[/quote]

And the patchwork amendment changes the text in many articles.
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=215572.msg4657128#msg4657128

[Poirot]

I don't think we can add constitution matters into the consolidated laws because replacing or modifying laws is the not same as constitution.

Is it in the mandate to regroup everything into one law because it gets very long and it's not easy to edit (I guess in the future if people want to amend some part they can only copy the specific part).

For the brackets, I will need to read carefully but text like This law takes effect, can be erased if the assembly adopt a consolidated law over all others.   

[Poirot]

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The provisions for the vacant assembly seat are naming someone from the same party I believe. It can be diffficult to find someone of the same party so I am in favor of deleting the provision.

For the Senate specail election opening in 7 days, it brings flexibility because of when the vacancy occurs and assures a fixed period campaign. We will have to set a minimum number of days between the vacancy and the election if there is no fixed period. We need a minimum of 3-4 days for candidates to decalre, parties to choose a candidate (a party could need a primary) and some campaining time, so on the other end it makes election period of over 10 days possible.

All other elections are on weekends so if consistency in elecions is important we could go with weekends elections.     

[Poirot]

Someone wanting to vote None of the above could just write Abstain or Blank
I think it used to be if you ranked None of the above, legally no other ranking of candidates should count but it was not appiied, There were ballots with first rankings and then lower would still give a rank to None of the above.

[Poirot]

In the section with alternative persons authorized to open a voting booth there is Secreatey of forum affairs. Is this an old title that has been changed?

[Poirot]

I don't naturally associate that task with Secretary of State. I guess another thing to verify or change.

There is a strike on this text in the voting rules section:

iii) Polls shall be opened by the Governor of the Northeast between 12:00am Eastern Standard Time and 11:59am Eastern Standard Time on the day appointed for the election to begin.

Is there another place, perhaps in the constitution that specifies the hours of voting? Because hours of voting need to be some place.

[Poirot]

I found another text with Forums Affairs:

i) A voter's ballot is valid only if the voter -
   a) is registered with the Atlasian Secretary of Forum Affairs as a voter of a Northeastern state 7 days prior to the day appointed for the election to begin;


Maybe it's now called the Registrar General ? This text needs a change.
The problem with federal Departmets officials is we could add the Attorney General or Secretary of Interior but if Presidents suggest new names and departments the list in our law will be inaccurate.

[Poirot]

The Registrar would make sense. They probably selected the more stable and neutral federal officials. It's more likely to be the Governor or Lt. Governor anyway if they know how to count the votes. I would put RG instead of forum affairs. Other Cabinet offices could change names too easily. Other option would be to write Supreme court justices and to be general any federal Cabinet officeholders but it's a lot of people so probably not that.   

"any member of the Atlasian Supreme Court, the Secretary of Forum Affairs, Secretary of Federal Elections, Governor or the Lieutenant Governor of the Northeast has the authority to act in the event of the inability of the Governor and they shall be authorized to open the polls and conduct the vote."

[Poirot]

I'm fine with the text in the previous post.

I have a minor point. In the declaration of candidate section:
ii) Valid declarations of candidacy for special Northeast elections must be posted in the Candidate Declaration Thread after the election's announcement but at least one day before the election is set to begin.

Is "after election's announcement" an official post by the CJO or after the vacancy occurs? If a citizen sees a vacancy he/she would probably declare and not wait for an official announcement.


In the explanantion for removal of supremacy clause, maybe we could add it doesn't stop the region to have to meet minimum standards set by federal legislation.
If there is a conflict between federal and regional law that will be the courts who will have to interpret the minimum standard. For example, if the region doesn't allow editing of vote, is it breaking a law. 

[Poirot]

I'll keep it short.
I agree with the change to "after vacancy occurs" because it seems less restrictive than "after announcement".
I brought the explanationh to surpemacy clause to reassure the assembly by removing it we could become renegade. It doesn't remove the fact the region is requires to follow the basic federal electoral laws, like we could not decideto let new citizens vote after being registered 2 days.

[Poirot]

Does that work?

Yes

[Poirot]

Aye

(About how to fill vacancies I take into account uniformity and the sentiment of dislike of special elections by many. I have always prefered voters decide rather than a single person. For Northeast Senator I find the period long, a replacement could be on the job for a month.)