Southern Regional Committee

[Leinad]

Good, good.

So, how should we go about replacing Senators? I'm guessing we should probably have an appointment if it's within a certain time from the end of the term, and a special election if it's longer. Thoughts?

[Leinad]

Another idea could be to always have an appointment, and then a special election within two weeks if it's >28 days away. That would fix the problem of having a vacancy for too long, without taking away power from the voters, or making the gubernatorial appointment any more important than it needs to be.

[Leinad]

I think there is a consensus that the governor should make the initial appointment, whether that be for the remainder of the term or just a certain amount of time. I would motion that a principle vote be held on what the second step would be: approval from legislature or special election.

Agreed.

I will propose a third option: special election if it's > X weeks, legislative approval if it's < X but > Y weeks, and simple gubernatorial appointment if it's < Y weeks. (For the sake of example, let's say X = 8 and Y = 2.) Now, this might be another one of my over-complex solutions that sound great to me but silly to others, but it's word floating out there.

Of the two ideas already proposed, part of me supports a special election for the sake of democracy, mandate of the people, etc., but part of me supports legislative approval for the sake of legislative activity and avoiding voter fatigue. I think my option is good because it retains special elections while not causing voter fatigue, yet it also doesn't give the Governor the ability to appoint a Senator to a two-month term.

Principle Vote

Question: after the Gubernatorial appointment to temporarily fill a vacancy in the Senate, presuming there is greater than a to-be-determined period of time left until the next election for that seat, how shall the Senate vacancy be filled?

[ ] Legislative Approval

[ ] Special Election

[ ] Special Election before a certain time threshold, Legislative Approval after

Vote will last for 24 hours, or until all members have voted.

[Leinad]

Principle Vote

[3] Legislative Approval

[2] Special Election

[1] Special Election before a certain time threshold, Legislative Approval after

[Leinad]

Not necessarily tonight - I have a function this evening. I'll try and create a Doodle Poll later tonight to figure out a time that works for all of us. If someone has time to do one sooner, that would be great too.

I think sometime over the weekend. Maybe Saturday or Sunday?

I talked this over with Yankee, and Friday (tomorrow) night works for both of us. Not sure of his availability on Saturday and Sunday night, but if we can do it Friday night that would be better.


Well, we actually have two questions--when does it go from special elections to simply legislative approval the Governor's temporary pick, and when, if there is such a time, does it go from legislative approval to simply letting the Governor's temporary appointment stand?

I would go with 8 weeks and 2 weeks, respectively, myself.

[Leinad]

Friday night sounds fine to me.

Good. Friday night it is, unless that doesn't work well for Peebs or Tmth.

Do you have any thoughts on the second part of my post?

[Leinad]

So, is that a majority fine with 8 and 2? Peebs says her "thoughts on the issue seem to fall squarely in line with NeverAgain's," although "the issue" is somewhat vague. Sorry if this seems pedantic, but I'd rather not simply assume that someone is for something they are not.

[Leinad]

Unless someone really wants to hold a vote, 8 and 2 it is.

So, Saturday it is...if Yankee's not busy then. If he is, would Sunday work for everyone?

If not...I demand Dave pay us so we can do this full-time.

[Leinad]

He really should've posted this here, too, but Yankee won't be available until super-late due to work.

When do you guys go to bed? If it's not after 1AM EDT then does Sunday work?

[Leinad]

I make a motion for a Principle Vote on the Amended Bill of Rights.

Actually, since a majority of us (at least 4 counting me) support your amendment, I think we're good to let it pass without a principle vote being necessary.


Now, to the name and the capitol! I'll have more thoughts on the latter, but there are basically 4 ways we can go with the region's name:

1. Boring but simple ("The South")

2. Variation on the geographic name (e.g. "Imperial Dominion of the South" or "Dirty South")

3. Named after a person (e.g. "Fremont" or "Franklin")

4. Named after a word in another language (how most states were named--e.g. Texas coming from the Caddo word for "friends")

Tmth suggested possible making these things be measures voted on by the Southern public at-large, which might be fun, but we should still discuss this either way.

[Leinad]

Shame on me for skimming--I also agree with Yankee about economic security. While all people should have economic security, it is hard to make the case that government-funded economic security is a constitutional right, when government only gets funds from taxation (something that, morally, is at best a necessary evil). Besides, this will, indeed, give the judicial branch a window into controlling fiscal policy.

Also, is #9 even necessary, or enforceable? I mean, this is Atlasia, where the voters are not taxed (at least, not in real life) and the taxpayers, being non-playable, don't vote.

Does this need to be ratified by Southern citizens before it is officially adopted?

The Constitution did not specifically say how we adopt it, so I presume a vote by us would do. That being said, it would be nice to open it to a region-wide referendum.


We are not yet done, though. A few things we have not yet determined:

-When Legislative elections are to happen. Presumably this is every odd-numbered month, starting with July, for two-month terms.

-When the Gubernatorial election is to happen. Tmth seems to want a Mar/Jul/Nov setup, and while we will definitely have an election in July, the old South, for reference, had Apr/Aug/Dec elections. Of course, we could also discuss how long we want Gubernatorial terms to be, but I think we generally agree on 4 months.

-What we will call the Legislature. I like "Chamber of Delegates."

I think we forgot something else, too, but I can't recall what it was right now.

[Leinad]

It seems like the first eight clauses are acceptable to everyone. After NeverAgain makes his response to this (if he chooses), I motion to vote on clauses 9 and 10 seperately.

Good idea, I second the motion.

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I think if we have it parallel to the old south, we should have the elections alongside Class II Senate elections, with legislative elections being held alongside either Senate seat's. But if we decide on a Jan/Mar/May/Jul/Sep/Nov cycle (Legislature-only elections italicized), that's fine with me.

I think the Legislative elections need to be Jan/Mar/May/Jul/Sep/Nov, regardless of when the Gubernatorial elections are. That way, there's a region-wide election each month. I prefer Apr/Aug/Dec for Governor, both to stagger the regional government elections and for familiarity's sake. Although Mar/Jul/Nov would be acceptable if the Committee prefers it--a selling point is that we won't need a special election for a one-month term if we go this route.

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Chamber of Delegates has a nice ring to it, although everybody seems to be using Assembly instead.
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They're probably doing that as a more generic name, or they thought it was officially that for whatever reason. We shouldn't let it restrain us from picking a more creative name. The boring option won on districts and Lt. Gov., could we go with a fun option on this one?

[Leinad]

I guess everyone's in favor of "South," then? I kind of wished we could've came up with something more "interesting," but I suppose there is wisdom in simplicity.

Are we all in favor of Nashville? I forgot to mention this earlier, but I looked at the map and registration statistics, and Atlanta is actually right around the center of current population (22/42, last I checked, are on Atlantic coast states--most of which are mostly east of Atlanta--while 20/42, last I checked, are in states mostly north of Georgia, with the other 22 in states level with or south of Georgia--i.e. mostly south of Atlanta). Then again, I would also be fine with Nashville.

Also, I don't believe we've officially decided the months for Gubernatorial elections. I would prefer Apr/Aug/Dec (yes, familiarity is a bad argument--that's why I listed two arguments for it ) but I also see the rationale for Mar/Jul/Nov. Unless someone comes up with something else we should vote on, I suppose a principle vote is in order for Gubernatorial election months?

[Leinad]

Principle Vote

Question: when should we hold regular elections for Governor?

[ ] April, August, and December

[ ] January, May, and September

[ ] Write-In


Vote will last for 24 hours, or until all members have voted, or until a majority has voted for one option.

[Leinad]

March, July, and November win, unless I've forgotten how to STV. Speaking of forgetting things...let's just say I was busy trying to plan my Presidency...

If it seems like it will take longer, I propose we pass a resolution stating that gubernatorial/legislative elections will happen this weekend and they will swear in once this constitution is finalized.

With the election to begin in 25 hours, 38 minutes, I second this. Any thirds?

Also, I encourage everyone (specifically Southerners, and especially Committee members) to go over that Constitution with a fine-toothed comb. I will do so myself multiple times before we finish this.

[Leinad]

Unless there are objections or amendments, I will open up a final vote later tonight to approve the 1st Constitution of the South Region!

[Leinad]

Final Vote on the Southern Constitution

[ ] Aye

[ ] Nay

[ ] Abstain


Vote will last for 24 hours, or until all members have voted.

[Leinad]

Final Vote on the Southern Constitution

[X] Aye

[ ] Nay

[ ] Abstain

[Leinad]

Since we made it to the end, I just wanna come out and say that I really enjoyed working with you guys.

Agreed, it's been an excellent committee.

[Leinad]

With 5 in favor, and no one not in favor, the FIRST SOUTHERN CONSTITUTION HAS OFFICIALLY PASSED!!!

Before the other two regions, I might add!