Southern Constitutional Committee of 2022 Thread

[reagente]

Thought I'd start to fill out the other articles

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Article I: The Region

1. The South and the Constitution thereof shall be representative of the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

2. The region may also be referred to as the Southern Region.

3. The regional capital for The South established in this Constitution shall be Nashville, Tennessee.

4. For purposes of electoral representation, The South shall be divided into two Subregions:
i. The Upper Southern Subregion shall consist of the states of Arkansas, Delaware, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
ii. The Deep Southern Subregion shall consist of the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, and Texas.

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Article V: The Judicial Branch

1. The judicial power of The South shall be vested in the Southern Circuit Court, whose membership is the Associate Justice from The South.

2. The jurisdiction of the Southern Circuit Court shall extend to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution and all official acts made under its authority; to controversies between two or more citizens of The South.

3. Treason against The South, shall consist only in levying War or Rebellion against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

4. The Southern Legislature shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

[reagente]

I vote Aye on all.

I think before presenting the Constitution to the voters we should collect everything that carries over and our new changes into a single document.

[reagente]

Would like to propose these quick clarifying edits to Article III (and I have a few more ideas that I will post in an hour or two):

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Article III, Section 4:

4. When the polls close, the appropriate election administrator of The South shall be given twenty-four hours to count the votes and declare a winner. All gubernatorial elections shall be by single transferable vote, unless otherwise specified by law. The newly elected governor is to be officially sworn in on the Friday following the election. In the case of a tie, all tied candidates are to run in a runoff election occurring in the weekend following the regularly scheduled election to determine a winner. The winner will be eligible to swear in immediately. In the case of a tie in a runoff election, the newly elected legislature will vote between the tied candidates to elect the new governor. There may only be one governor at any point in time. Once a new governor is sworn in, the old one forfeits their office.

Article III, Section 5:

5. Should the office of governor fall vacant at any point during the term, the chief officer of the legislature, or, should none be available, the longest continually-serving available member of the legislature, shall assume the role of acting governor until the legislature can vote to elect a new governor. If the legislature fails to select a new governor within 14 days of the vacancy, the acting governor shall become governor for the remainder of the term and vacate their seat in the legislature. If the acting governor fails to open a vote to elect a new governor within 3 days of the vacancy, any member of the legislature may open a vote to elect a new governor.

Article III, Section 8:

8. The governor has veto power over any piece of legislation passed by The Southern Legislature. The governor may have the power to veto sections of legislation as opposed to the whole of any legislation, if provided for by law. The governor must either sign or veto a piece of legislation within one week of its passage, otherwise it will go into effect.

[reagente]

Some more clarifying amendments

Article IV, Section 1

1. The legislative power of The South shall be vested to the Southern Legislature, which shall be composed of five (5) representatives. Three (3) representatives will be elected at-large, and one (1) will be elected by each of the two subregions.

Article IV, Section 2

2. At-large Representatives are to be elected by all citizens registered to vote in The South. Representatives elected from a subregion are to be elected by all citizens registered to vote in the respective subregion. Representatives must be registered to vote in The South.

Article IV, Section 4

4. Candidates for the Southern Legislature will be given until the Wednesday at 11:59:59 pm EDT preceding the first date of polling in the election they wish to contest to announce their candidacy and appear on the ballot. This is to be done by officially declaring their candidacy in the Candidate Declaration Thread. Candidates should specify if they are running at-large, for the Upper South seat, or for the Deep South seat.

Article IV, Section 5

5. When the polls close, the appropriate election administrator shall be given twenty-four (24) hours to count the votes and declare elected representatives. All legislative elections shall be by single transferable vote, unless otherwise specified by law. The newly elected representatives shall officially assume office on the Friday following the election, marking the beginning of a new legislative session. In the case of a tie, the candidate with the most second preferences is elected. If the tie remains, all tied candidates are to participate in a runoff election the following week to determine a winner, organized by the appropriate election administrators. In the case of a tie If a tie remains, the Southern Governor shall appoint a new Delegate until a new one is elected, in which case the appointed legislator shall forfeit their office.

Article IV, Section 7

7. All legislation shall first be considered in the Southern Legislature. Legislation shall be considered by the legislature upon petition of the governor, any representative, or two Southerners.

Article VI, Section 5

5. When the polls close, the appropriate election administrator of the South shall be given twenty-four hours to count the votes and declare a winner. All senatorial elections shall be by single transferable vote, unless otherwise specified by law. The newly elected senator is to be officially sworn in on the Friday following the election. In the case of a tie, the candidate with the first most preferences is elected. If it remains a tie, all tied candidates are to run in a run-off election the following week to determine a winner, organized by the appropriate election administrator. In the case of a tie If a tie remains, the previous senator shall remain in office until a senator is elected. Once a new senator is sworn in, the old one forfeits their office.

Article VI, Section 6

6. If the office of senator is to become vacant at some point while they are in office, the governor may appoint a Southern citizen to fill out the remainder of the term if the next scheduled election for the seat is less than 2 weeks away. If the vacancy occurs 2 weeks to 8 weeks before the next scheduled election for the seat, the governor may appoint a Southern citizen with legislative approval with the advice and consent of the Southern Legislature to fill out the remainder of the term. If the vacancy occurs more than 8 weeks before the next scheduled election for the seat, the election administrator shall conduct a special election to fill the seat for the remainder of the term. Said election must occur within 14 days of the vacancy.

Article VIII, Section 1

1. Amendments to this Constitution shall be proposed by the citizens of The South or the Southern Legislature. A proposed amendment in the legislature shall be forwarded to be voted upon by to the citizens of the Southern Region for ratification by popular vote upon an affirmative vote of two-thirds of voting members and a majority of total members of the Southern Legislature. An amendment proposed by a citizen of The South which receives the signatures of one-fourth of the total number of registered voters in The South must be presented to the Legislature in a timely manner.

[reagente]

Since we have an election that will begin tomorrow, and I think it would be best for an election with the highest turnout of citizens to consider this new constitution, I motion for an immediate vote on the following two tasks.

Votes on reagente's proposed clarifications

Aye on All -
Nay on All -

or

Art III, Section 4 -
Art III, Section 5 -
Art III, Section 8 -
Art IV, Section 1 -
Art IV, Section 2 -
Art IV, Section 4 -
Art IV, Section 5 -
Art IV, Section 7 -
Art VI, Section 5 -
Art VI, Section 6 -
Art VIII, Section 1 -

Vote to approve the draft Constitution (with any approved clarifications voted on above) and present the document to the voters for ratification this election.

Aye -
Nay -

[reagente]

Votes on reagente's proposed clarifications

Aye on All - X
Nay on All -

or

Art III, Section 4 -
Art III, Section 5 -
Art III, Section 8 -
Art IV, Section 1 -
Art IV, Section 2 -
Art IV, Section 4 -
Art IV, Section 5 -
Art IV, Section 7 -
Art VI, Section 5 -
Art VI, Section 6 -
Art VIII, Section 1 -

Vote to approve the draft Constitution (with any approved clarifications voted on above) and present the document to the voters for ratification this election.

Aye - X
Nay -

[reagente]

All Amendments have passed, and this Constitution will be reported to the voters for final ratification.

Great work everyone!