The Examiner: Election Tracker

[Marokai Backbeat]

Marokai Blue

6

(MaxQue, Marokai Blue, opebo, Earl, Lief, radicalidealist)

Really?

     Yes:

National:

Marokai Blue

Mind letting me know what I've proposed that's "radical?"

[Marokai Backbeat]

Marokai Blue

6

(MaxQue, Marokai Blue, opebo, Earl, Lief, radicalidealist)

Really?

     Yes:

National:

Marokai Blue

Mind letting me know what I've proposed that's "radical?"

You really have no clue what's going on, do you?

Uh, I guess not? What are you talking about?

[Marokai Backbeat]

Ah, I'd thought that someone was calling me and people who voted for me a radical or something.

[Marokai Backbeat]

There isn't really any sort of "left wing" advantage here in Atlasia. The left is fractured between those in the JCP who don't really vote on ideology and many don't really pay attention, the moderate heros and the DA center-leftists, and the SDP and our fairly to the left but also disgustingly inactive members.

Meanwhile the RPP is pretty much the only party on the right and made up of very dedicated (and respected) individuals. It causes a disadvantage for many other candidates.

In any case, I congratulation Franzl on his apparent victory.

[Marokai Backbeat]

In any case, I congratulation Franzl on his apparent victory.

Thank you, sir!

I appreciated the competition and the good debate that we had with each other.

It was a fun exchange, there should be more debates like that more often. We (including brandon) seemed genuinely interested in the debate unlike alot of other debates.

It's a shame that the Senate probably won't exist much longer due to the upcoming ConCon, because given a fair bit of time in office I think you could easily be one of Atlasia's best senators.

[Marokai Backbeat]

I have the utmost confidence in Franzl.

[Marokai Backbeat]

A while ago MaxQue & I ran for Governor and Lt. Governor of the Pacific, and as anyone can see, we lost pretty badly. Cultureking was and still is the JCP Governor, and Alcon was elected for the fourth time as Lt. Governor of the Pacific.

Do I think we could have brought some activity to the region? I like to think so. Alcon was a once-active member of Atlasia turned-JCP placeholder, and hasn't really showed himself around the region ever since taking office. Anyone could be more active than that, yet..

I like the Pacific region a lot and have been active in Atlasia ever since I joined, but regional government is difficult to keep active. Outside of the obvious things, having five regions kills activity because there's often not enough active people to fill all of the offices and/or stay active in them. There's simply just not a great deal to do.

I believe in regions, everyone knows that, but reducing the number of regions to say , 3, would do us some good. However, if the Pacific region was more competitive, we would probably be more active. The JCP dominated de-facto one party region makes it almost impossible to shake up the system and there in my mind there's a pretty clear correlation between our unusually low number of officeholders and our low activity. I'm sure at least one or two other regions have this sort of problem as well.

Perhaps I'm rambling, and perhaps none of this will matter after the convention, but competition is key to activity, yet at the same time we have to maintain enough offices so people can make a difference, and even yet we need to make sure we have a ladder in place so people can keep working to climb up to even more positions of power. It's a delicate balance I hope the convention can properly address and something I will work towards as a delegate. (So long as we don't pick up the first proposal we see and run away with it.)

[Marokai Backbeat]

I suggest just creating a second newspaper for your RPP obsession, since most of the recent articles and comments here seem to be all about them.

I have no love for some of their positions but this is getting silly.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Indeed. I didn't want it to seem like I was trying to push for more power for myself simply for the sake of a power grab, or that I didn't have faith in the President, but I would definitely have more trust in myself in crafting a detailed and informative guide for beginners.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Just a few days ago, Sen. realisticidealist introduced The Beginner's Guide to Atlasia Act onto the Senate legislative agenda on behalf of Attorney General Marokai Blue. The bill seeks to replace the Introduction to Atlasia Act – a piece of legislation which gives the President responsibility for the upkeep of an Introduction to Atlasia thread. The measure though has been oft ignored; indeed no President has performed their responsibilities under the Act since its introduction.

Can't say I knew that was my responsibility, to be honest. Though I suppose the fact that I never saw any of my predecessors doing it may have something to do with it.

I'd be happy to take over the responsibilities, if the Senate moves on the legislation this month.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Just a few days ago, Sen. realisticidealist introduced The Beginner's Guide to Atlasia Act onto the Senate legislative agenda on behalf of Attorney General Marokai Blue. The bill seeks to replace the Introduction to Atlasia Act – a piece of legislation which gives the President responsibility for the upkeep of an Introduction to Atlasia thread. The measure though has been oft ignored; indeed no President has performed their responsibilities under the Act since its introduction.

Can't say I knew that was my responsibility, to be honest. Though I suppose the fact that I never saw any of my predecessors doing it may have something to do with it.

I'd be happy to take over the responsibilities, if the Senate moves on the legislation this month.

Isn't this just a temporary solution to the supposed problem that is only convenient right now, though? Perhaps in a year's time, the AG won't want to do it and the SoFA will. Or maybe the President will want to do it again. If such positions still exist.

Perhaps it should be changed to something along the lines of "Maintaining the Introduction to Atlasia thread will be the President's responsibility, though he may delegate it to a member of his cabinet if they are willing"

I view it merely as an extension of the AG's power when it comes to updating and maintaining the Wiki, although the AG isn't solely responsible for that of course. Opening an introductory thread and maintaining one doesn't seem to be that difficult and is pretty much in the same vein as the aforementioned responsibilities.

[Marokai Backbeat]

The White House nor the Office of the Attorney General have yet to make known their response to the Southeast's decision to move for economic independence.

Rest assured, I'll be doing something about it. This quite blatantly violated the Article 1, Section 7, Clause 2 of the Constitution here:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

I should've stepped in earlier and advised the Southeast and those in power to actually read the Constitution and not be total constitutionally illiterate, especially since it's referenced in yet another part of Article 1 that the currency established by the federal government of Atlasia shall be the sole currency and only the Senate shall have authority in regulating the currency.

[Marokai Backbeat]

I believe the vote of Benconstine was indeed invalid and breaks the Voting Whilst Banned Act and possibly the Contempt of Court Act, as you expressed concern for to me.

Starting on the 19th of Jan. Ben was prohibited from voting for 13 weeks, or 91 days. Unfortunately the date of his vote, the 15th of this month, is not outside of that limit and as such is illegal. I'm afraid I'm going to be forced to press charges.

[Marokai Backbeat]

With all due respect to Ben, he can count and should have known better. It's unfortunate that he (I believe) mistakenly did this, but it's clear he broke the law and that's something that I'm duty-bound to pursue.

[Marokai Backbeat]

With all due respect to Ben, he can count and should have known better. It's unfortunate that he (I believe) mistakenly did this, but it's clear he broke the law and that's something that I'm duty-bound to pursue.

     But if you believe that it was an honest mistake, it makes little sense to pursue a case that's a surefire loss.

And how is it a surefire loss? I'm pretty sure I can count. This case boils down to:

Was Ben punished by being banned for 13 weeks from voting? Yes
Did Ben vote before his ban was up? Yes

Case closed.

[Marokai Backbeat]

With all due respect to Ben, he can count and should have known better. It's unfortunate that he (I believe) mistakenly did this, but it's clear he broke the law and that's something that I'm duty-bound to pursue.

     But if you believe that it was an honest mistake, it makes little sense to pursue a case that's a surefire loss.

And how is it a surefire loss? I'm pretty sure I can count. This case boils down to:

Was Ben punished by being banned for 13 weeks from voting? Yes
Did Ben vote before his ban was up? Yes

Case closed.

     In the real world, mistake of fact is a valid legal defense. Unless for some odd reason the same does not hold true in Atlasia, you just caused yourself a small problem. If Ben's attorney can convince the presiding justice that Ben voted without being aware that his penalty was still in effect, your case is in deep jeopardy.

     On second thought though, maybe "surefire loss" is a bit harsh as I am not educated in the case law relating to that particular defense. I mostly know of it being applied to a friend of my mother who was arrested for possessing a marijuana plant without knowing what it was.

This is different.

Ben has been through these proceedings and had been clearly punished. The fact that he got the date wrong is his own responsibility, and no one else's. It's not like your friend happening upon marijuana and not knowing what it was, Ben's situation is akin to someone sitting through a Driver's Ed course and getting traffic laws wrong once he's out on the open road.

It's his fault for not taking the responsibility to remember these things, especially since Ben has been in trouble in this area before. This is not a matter of some silly mistake, this is a matter of Ben not taking the responsibility of following the very clearly laid out punishment that was given to him. He can count, this wasn't complicated.

[Marokai Backbeat]

I'm more confused than I was before I started reading that.

[Marokai Backbeat]

I'm more confused than I was before I started reading that.

What confused you? Maybe I can clarify.

Oh, and it's out of date by now, thanks to my 1000%, pure Simon, tactical vote.

It's nothing, really. The entire system of who gets the most votes and who's vote "surplus" goes to the next person is line is too much for my mind to handle when I've been up until 6am.

Also, just so everyone knows, the court ruled that Ben did violate his voting ban and it was extended by three weeks. So there's no question about his vote being invalid.

[Marokai Backbeat]

For the record, I have already discussed privately with DWTL that I don't want the seat under these cricumstances.

At the moment it seems that DWTL is the fifth position. But if you were to become that position, you're saying you would remove yourself from the race?

What would that do to the results and math that's going on?

I'm not sure than he can retire like that. But, he can refuses to take his seat.

Indeed, he can't just withdraw and have his other votes redistributed. He would have to refuse to take his seat and move from there.

[Marokai Backbeat]

I fear I might have lost.

That would be because most left wing voters are idiots, I'm afraid.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Does this mean Purple State and Happywarrior will now be the furthest left economically?

A true pity.

[Marokai Backbeat]

That would be truly amazing if we really got in all 3 DA candidates.

That's one word for it.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Holy sh**t, the unholy alliance of Hamilton's and DWTL's cliques are going to make fail an Amendment supported by 60% of Atlasians...

At the very least, it's a moral victory, considering that this is the exact problem we were trying to fix.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Holy sh**t, the unholy alliance of Hamilton's and DWTL's cliques are going to make fail an Amendment supported by 60% of Atlasians...

At the very least, it's a moral victory, considering that this is the exact problem we were trying to fix.

Well, we're a genuine party. It's not our fault we were unrepresented before.

Do you even understand the point of the Amendment? It seems like alot of you are voting against it reflexively without even understanding why we were trying to fix the problem in the first place.

Typical behavior of the Atlasian right, when you think about it. Just naysay, don't debate.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Do you even understand the point of the Amendment? It seems like alot of you are voting against it reflexively without even understanding why we were trying to fix the problem in the first place.

Typical behavior of the Atlasian right, when you think about it. Just naysay, don't debate.

I perfectly understand the purpose of the Amendment - to weaken regional power by diluting the regions' ability to block amendments that potentially harm them.  Under the bill as proposed, 3 regions with similar ideology could gang up to destroy the other 1 or 2.  And I strongly oppose it.  It should not be easy to amend the Constitution.

Typical behavior of the Atlasian left - watering down constitutional protections on regional and minority rights to increase their control over Atlasia.

Regions are artificial barriers, they serve no purpose when it comes to ratification. If the solid majority of people support something, it should be able to pass, but certain people are able to manipulate the vote simply by where they live. There's no rationale for this behavior staying, absolutely none.

And for your information, this was even the compromise. If we can't even get a compromise to pass, this game is doomed.