Mideast Assembly Thread

[Purple State]

Section 7: Administration of Voting Booths

1. The administrator of a voting booth shall be free to design the ballot as he or she sees fit, as long as the content of the ballot is clear and unambiguous.
2. The administrator of a voting booth shall post links to all relevant statute regarding electoral law of the Mideast on the ballot.

Section 8: Administration of Initiative and Recall Petitions

1. There shall be no more than one initiative or recall petition contained in each thread.
2. Any thread in which an initiative or recall petition is initiated shall be clearly titled as such in the Subject line.
3. The text of the initiative or the intent of the recall shall be clear and unambiguous else it shall not be valid.
4. The Governor or Speaker of the Assembly must formally recognize an initiative or recall petition as soon as is reasonably possible unless they feel that any of the aforementioned provisions have not been satisfied. In the event that he chooses to decline recognition of the initiative or recall petition, he must formally state in the same thread as the initiative or recall petition his reasons for doing so.
5. The Governor or Speaker of the Assembly must formally state when an initiative or recall petition has gained the necessary support to be voted upon.
6. The author of an initiative or recall petition may withdraw their petition at any time before it has gained sufficient signatures to be voted upon.
7. A withdrawn petition may be adopted by another person with all its signatures still valid, though the original date of proposal shall remain unchanged.
8. A signatory to an initiative or recall petition may withdraw their signature at any time before the petition has gained sufficient signatures to be voted upon.
9. If an initiative is amended by the author after its petition has gained signatories, then the Governor or Lieutenant Governor may require these signatories to clarify whether their signature remains in effect for the amended version.

Section 9: Certification of Election Results

1. When the voting period has expired, the administrator of the voting booth or a moderator of the Forum shall lock the thread containing the voting booth. The thread shall not be unlocked except to enter the official certification of the election result onto the thread.
2. Certification of the election result shall be conducted as soon as reasonably possible after the voting booth shall have closed by the administrator of the voting booth. If the administrator of the voting booth shall not be available to conduct such certification, then he or she shall designate a member of the Assembly to carry out such certification in his stead.
3. In certifying the result the administrator shall list all those votes which he or she has discounted, and the reasons for these votes being discounted. The voting booth administrator shall discount all votes that are invalid under the law, and shall only count those remaining votes for which he or she is able to make a reasonable determination as to the intent of the voter subject to such conditions as imposed by Section 9 of this Act.
4. The certifying officer may post provisional certifications of the election results, but these shall be of no legal effect.
5. Once the certifying officer is content that he has a full and complete certification he shall post an official certification which shall be final in all respects, unless a Court order shall instruct otherwise.
6. Should the Governor wish to exercise his power of veto upon an initiative for statute, he must state this clearly in the voting booth after the vote has been officially certified, and must do so within 4 days of the closure of the period of voting. This Clause shall only go into effect if such power is expressly allowed by the Constitution of the Mideast.

Section 10: Reasonable Determination of Intent

1. Where a voter lists all candidates running and places some mark to the right or left of one and only one of the candidates, then the vote shall be construed to be for that candidate.
2. The enumeration of certain reasonable determinations of intent in this section shall not be construed to be exclusive.

Section 11: Concession of Victory

1. If a candidate shall concede his or her victory of an election after the certification of the election result, then the candidate with the next greatest number of specified votes in that election shall then be declared victor.
2. If a victor who has conceded shall wish to retract his or her concession, then he or she may only do so with the permission of the newly declared victor.
3. If an election shall produce a tie that requires a run-off election, any candidate may decline to go forward to the run-off. If such actions shall leave only one candidate in the run-off, then that candidate shall be declared the victor.
4. Concessions made before the certification of election results, or on or after the date on which the newly elected official is due to be sworn in, are of no legal effect whatsoever.

Section 12: Election and Vote Disputes

1. Should any Mideast voter or candidate possessing standing to sue decide to contest the result of an election or vote they shall be able to file a lawsuit in the Superior Court within seven days of certification of that election.

Section 13: Repealed Legislation

The following legislation is hereby repealed upon passage of this:

Mideast Election and Vote Regulations Statute
Mideast Gubernatorial Election Statute
Mideast Second Election and Vote Regulations Statute

[Purple State]

I believe Section 10 addresses that.

[Purple State]

Fixed.

Anything else?

[Purple State]

Afleitch, when will you be leaving? I would like to have a chance to incorporate your thoughts and put this to vote soon. Granted we do have a bit of time until the next elections and we don't want flawed legislation, but I would like this kind of landmark legislation to get through here.

[Purple State]

The vote is on the following piece of legislation, included in this post and the next post:

The Mideast Elections Consolidation Statute

Section 1: Votes

1. In their vote in the Elections for public officers in the Mideast, each voter shall list some, none, or all of the candidates in the voter's order of preference for them.
2. If no indication of preference or preferences are given, then the candidate at the top of the list shall be presumed to be the first preference, the candidate on the second line of the list shall be presumed to be the second preference, and so on.
3. A voter may cast a write-in vote in any election, except a runoff election or a vote for Propositions, Initiatives, Recalls and Constitutional Amendments.
4. In order to write-in a candidate, the voter shall not be required to explicitly specify that his or her vote is for a write-in candidate.
5. In order for write-in votes for a candidate to qualify as countable votes, the person written-in must formally accept the write-in candidacy before the end of voting in the given election.
6. A voter may vote for "None of the Above" in any election in which a write-in is allowed. Any voter who votes for "None of the Above" may do so only as a first preference; any and all lower preferences of the voter shall be ignored.
7. If a voter shall explicitly cast a vote in a race for which they are not qualified to vote, then the vote in that race shall be considered invalid.
8. The form of the vote for all Propositions, Initiatives, Recalls and Constitutional Amendments shall be aye/nay/abstain.


Section 2: Determination of the Winner

1. If any candidate shall gain the greatest number of highest preference votes, then that candidate shall be declared the winner of the election. In Assembly elections, the candidate that receives a plurality of highest preference votes shall be elected to the Assembly. The candidate for the Assembly that receives the greatest number of combined highest preference votes and second preference votes and that has not already been elected to the first seat shall be elected to the Assembly. The candidate for the Assembly that receives the greatest number of combined highest preference votes, second preference votes, and third preference and that has not already been elected to the first two seats votes shall be elected to the Assembly.
2. If two or more candidates are tied in the proper votes needed for election, the following procedure shall be used:
a. If the race shall be for the office of Governor, a run-off election shall be held.
b. If the race shall be for Assembly candidates with the greatest number of highest preference votes, both candidates shall win election to the Assembly. In such a case, the third seat shall be filled by the the candidate for the Assembly that receives the greatest number of combined highest preference votes and second preference votes and that has not already been elected to the first two seats.
c. If the race shall be for Assembly candidates with the greatest number of highest preference and second preference votes and that has not already been elected to the first seat, both candidates shall win election to the Assembly. In such a case, the third seat will have been filled and the candidate with the greatest number of highest preference, second preference, and third preference votes and that has not already been elected to the first three seats shall not be elected.
d. If the race shall be for Assembly candidates with the greatest number of highest preference, second preference, and third preference votes and that has not already been elected to the first two seats or candidates with the great number of highest preference and second preference votes and that has not already been elected to the first two seats, as made possible by Section 2, Clause 2, Sub clause b. of this document, a run-off election shall be held.

Section 3: Run-off Elections

If all remaining candidates shall have the same number of votes for a given position, then the following procedure shall be used to break the tie:

1. Run-off elections shall begin between midnight Eastern Standard Time on the first Thursday after the initial election and 0001 Eastern Standard Time on the first Friday thereafter, and shall conclude exactly 72 hours after the beginning.
2. Those candidates who have tied shall be automatically entered onto the ballot. No other candidacies shall be allowed.
3. Voters shall only be able to cast a vote for one candidate.
4. If any candidate shall gain a majority of the votes cast, then he shall be declared winner.
5. In the event that litigation is pending before the Mideast Superior Court at the time a run-off is due to be held, the Court may delay the run-off in a specified manner if it thinks the result of such litigation would have a substantive impact on the run-off.

Section 4: Tied Run-off Elections

If the Run-off Election procedure specified in section 4 results in a tie, then:

1. If the race shall be for Governor, the Assembly shall have the power to break the tie by a majority vote.
2. If the race shall be for the Assembly, another run-off shall be held until a candidate is elected.

Section 5: None of the Above

If, in an election, the None of the Above option shall have gained more votes than each candidate, then a new election shall be held under the following procedure

1. The new election shall be held between midnight Eastern Standard Time on the second Thursday after the initial election and 0001 Eastern Standard Time on the first Friday thereafter at 1800 Eastern Standard Time on the second Thursday after the election, and shall conclude exactly 72 hours after the beginning.
2. None of the candidates defeated by the None of the Above option in the original may be declared candidates in the new election. However, a voter may still write-in any such candidate.
3. The candidacy declaration deadline for the new election shall end at the moment the Voting Booth for that election has been opened.

Section 6: Absentee Voting

1. As mandated by Article IV of the Mideast Constitution, all voters shall have the right to cast absentee votes as mandated by Sections 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of that Article.

[Purple State]

The Mideast Elections Consolidation Statute Continued

Section 7: Administration of Voting Booths

1. The administrator of a voting booth shall be free to design the ballot as he or she sees fit, as long as the content of the ballot is clear and unambiguous.
2. The administrator of a voting booth shall post links to all relevant statute regarding electoral law of the Mideast on the ballot.

Section 8: Administration of Initiative and Recall Petitions

1. There shall be no more than one initiative or recall petition contained in each thread.
2. Any thread in which an initiative or recall petition is initiated shall be clearly titled as such in the Subject line.
3. The text of the initiative or the intent of the recall shall be clear and unambiguous else it shall not be valid.
4. The Governor or Speaker of the Assembly must formally recognize an initiative or recall petition as soon as is reasonably possible unless they feel that any of the aforementioned provisions have not been satisfied. In the event that he chooses to decline recognition of the initiative or recall petition, he must formally state in the same thread as the initiative or recall petition his reasons for doing so.
5. The Governor or Speaker of the Assembly must formally state when an initiative or recall petition has gained the necessary support to be voted upon.
6. The author of an initiative or recall petition may withdraw their petition at any time before it has gained sufficient signatures to be voted upon.
7. A withdrawn petition may be adopted by another person with all its signatures still valid, though the original date of proposal shall remain unchanged.
8. A signatory to an initiative or recall petition may withdraw their signature at any time before the petition has gained sufficient signatures to be voted upon.
9. If an initiative is amended by the author after its petition has gained signatories, then the Governor or Lieutenant Governor may require these signatories to clarify whether their signature remains in effect for the amended version.

Section 9: Certification of Election Results

1. When the voting period has expired, the administrator of the voting booth or a moderator of the Forum shall lock the thread containing the voting booth. The thread shall not be unlocked except to enter the official certification of the election result onto the thread.
2. Certification of the election result shall be conducted as soon as reasonably possible after the voting booth shall have closed by the administrator of the voting booth. If the administrator of the voting booth shall not be available to conduct such certification, then he or she shall designate a member of the Assembly to carry out such certification in his stead.
3. In certifying the result the administrator shall list all those votes which he or she has discounted, and the reasons for these votes being discounted. The voting booth administrator shall discount all votes that are invalid under the law, and shall only count those remaining votes for which he or she is able to make a reasonable determination as to the intent of the voter subject to such conditions as imposed by Section 9 of this Act.
4. The certifying officer may post provisional certifications of the election results, but these shall be of no legal effect.
5. Once the certifying officer is content that he has a full and complete certification he shall post an official certification which shall be final in all respects, unless a Court order shall instruct otherwise.
6. Should the Governor wish to exercise his power of veto upon an initiative for statute, he must state this clearly in the voting booth after the vote has been officially certified, and must do so within 4 days of the closure of the period of voting. This Clause shall only go into effect if such power is expressly allowed by the Constitution of the Mideast.

Section 10: Reasonable Determination of Intent

1. Where a voter lists all candidates running and places some mark to the right or left of one and only one of the candidates, then the vote shall be construed to be for that candidate.
2. The enumeration of certain reasonable determinations of intent in this section shall not be construed to be exclusive.

Section 11: Concession of Victory

1. If a candidate shall concede his or her victory of an election after the certification of the election result, then the candidate with the next greatest number of specified votes in that election shall then be declared victor.
2. If a victor who has conceded shall wish to retract his or her concession, then he or she may only do so with the permission of the newly declared victor.
3. If an election shall produce a tie that requires a run-off election, any candidate may decline to go forward to the run-off. If such actions shall leave only one candidate in the run-off, then that candidate shall be declared the victor.
4. Concessions made before the certification of election results, or on or after the date on which the newly elected official is due to be sworn in, are of no legal effect whatsoever.

Section 12: Election and Vote Disputes

1. Should any Mideast voter or candidate possessing standing to sue decide to contest the result of an election or vote they shall be able to file a lawsuit in the Superior Court within seven days of certification of that election.

Section 13: Repealed Legislation

The following legislation is hereby repealed upon passage of this:

Mideast Election and Vote Regulations Statute
Mideast Gubernatorial Election Statute
Mideast Second Election and Vote Regulations Statute

The vote will be aye, nay, or abstain.

[Purple State]

Aye

[Purple State]

Peter doesn't seem to be around much, so I will let this pass unanimously by a vote of 2-0. It will become law in 3 days time.

[Purple State]

I agree that there should not be a gag-rule on discussion of intelligent design in classes meant to discuss such things.

I bring the following bill to the floor for debate.

Amendment to the Mideast Intelligent Design Statute

Section 2 of the Mideast Intelligent Design Statute shall be amended to read: "Therefore, the Mideast Region forbids all school districts under the government's authority to teach the theory of intelligent design in any course pertaining to scientific theory. This shall not be read to exclude such discourse in a philosophical or otherwise social science manner."

Sponsor: Afleitch

[Purple State]

I also bring the following Amendment to the floor for discussion:


Mideast Wiki Responsibility Amendment

1. The Governor is hereby given the responsibility of updating the Mideast regional Wiki for all legislation and occurrences during his or her tenure.
2. If such action is not taken within 30 days of the passage of said legislation or occurrence, the Assembly shall choose a member of its body to assume all responsibilities of the Governor until such time as the Governor has fulfilled Section 1 of this Amendment.


Obviously we cannot make up for all that has not been accounted for since the last update, but anything recent should fall under this.

[Purple State]

Seeing as no one cares to debate, I will bring the following bills to the floor for a vote:

Amendment to the Mideast Intelligent Design Statute

Section 2 of the Mideast Intelligent Design Statute shall be amended to read: "Therefore, the Mideast Region forbids all school districts under the government's authority to teach the theory of intelligent design in any course pertaining to scientific theory. This shall not be read to exclude such discourse in a philosophical or otherwise social science manner."

Sponsor: Afleitch

Mideast Wiki Responsibility Act

1. The Governor is hereby given the responsibility of updating the Mideast regional Wiki for all legislation and occurrences during his or her tenure.
2. If such action is not taken within 30 days of the passage of said legislation or occurrence, the Assembly shall choose a member of its body to assume all responsibilities of the Governor until such time as the Governor has fulfilled Section 1 of this bill.


Please vote for each bill separately with an aye, nay, or abstain.

[Purple State]

Aye for both.

[Purple State]

Both motions pass my a 2-0 vote. Each bill shall become law in 3 days time barring action by the Governor.

[Purple State]

Due to a pending legal decision in the Mideast Superior Court, I bring the following Amendment to the Mideast Constitution proposal to the Assembly floor for discussion:


Mideast Wiki Responsibility Amendment

Article I, Section 1 of the Mideast Constitution shall hereby include the following additional clauses:
4. The Governor shall hold the responsibility of updating the Mideast regional Wiki for all legislation and occurrences during his or her tenure.
5. If such action is not taken within 30 days of the passage of said legislation or occurrence, the Assembly shall choose a member of its body to assume all responsibilities of the Governor until such time as the Governor has fulfilled Clause 4 of this Section.


The vote to send this Amendment to the people shall be aye, nay, or abstain. One may refrain from voting until after the decision of the SC has been handed down, but it is not obligatory to do so.

[Purple State]

The Wiki Responsibility Act has been ruled unconstitutional. I vote Aye on the Amendment to the Constitution.

[Purple State]

I know the coming elections are taking a bit of work, but getting this Amendment to the people around the time of the elections would raise participation.

[Purple State]

Message from the Speaker

Members of the Mideast Assembly and fellow Mideast citizens:

The third Convention for the Mideast Constitution will soon be coming to a close. Many of our region's finest members have contributed a great deal of time and effort to make sure this document will be as successful as possible. I would like to give special thanks to Governor Inks and my colleagues in the Assembly, afleitch and Peter, for their extensive work on the Third Constitution. It could not have been completed without their help and the aid of all those that have participated in one way or another.

I would like to call on every citizen of the Mideast to help us finish this process. Review the new constitution here,share your thoughts in the convention thread, and vote on the amendments. Let us finish this tremendous effort off even stronger than we started.

~Speaker Purple State

[Purple State]

In light of the calling of a national Constitutional Convention, I bring the following resolution to the floor for a vote.


ConCon Delegate Selection Resolution

Whereas, it is stated in the federal resolution to call a fourth Constitutional Convention for the great state of Atlasia; and

Whereas, the Mideast region is to select four (4) delegates to said Convention by a form of popular vote;

The Mideast Assembly hereby calls on the Governor to hold a public vote in a Voting Booth thread on this next Thursday at noon to correspond with the vote on the Third Mideast Constitution;

The Mideast Assembly hereby resolves that the election shall last no longer than 72 hours and no less than 48 hours from the time the booth opens;

The Mideast Assembly hereby resolves that the election shall be open to all members residing in the Mideast for a period of the 10 days directly prior to the start of the vote. Candidates shall be eligible to declare their candidacy up to six (6) hours before the opening of the voting booth. Write-in candidates shall be eligible only in the event that they accept said votes and receive five (5) or more votes.


Aye

[Purple State]

I don't mean to be a hindrance to the process, but does the Assembly have the legal authority to call for such a vote?  I don't see how they do; but I don't see how I do either.

It's a non-binding resolution, an expression of the Assembly's preference for the format of the vote that the Governor will administer.

You have the sole legal authority to call it because the Senate bill provided that the Governors have that responsibility.

[Purple State]

BUMP

There is a vote on-going here. Any other assembly members around?

[Purple State]

Just a tad. The slowdown is likely due to the coming of the vote for the 3C and the upcoming national CC.

It would appear that the Mideast is the only region thus far to have enough candidates looking to be a delegate to fill its delegate slots. That, at least, is a good sign.


The non-binding ConCon Delegate Selection Resolution passes unanimously by a vote of 2-0. I will convey this resolution to the Governor as stated.

[Purple State]

Message from the Office of the Speaker

I want to take the time out to congratulate the members of the Mideast that have been selected to represent this region in the coming national Constitutional Convention. Your work will go a long way towards improving Atlasia and bringing a renewed spirit of participation and honesty to this game we all enjoy.

I wish you all the best of luck and look forward to seeing the results.

~ Speaker Purple State

[Purple State]

First, I ask that the Governor update the Wiki with the new Mideast Constitution. (EDIT: And other recently passed statutes as well)

Second, I call the following motion to the floor for debate:

Libel and Slander Penalization Act

1. It shall hereby be illegal in the Mideast region to slander or libel the name of another member of the region.
2. Slander shall be defined as harmful statements in a transitory form, especially speech. Libel shall be defined as harmful statements in a fixed medium, especially writing but also a picture, sign, or electronic broadcast.
3. Clause 2 of this Act shall not be read to limit slander or libel to the listed mediums of defamation.
4. Conviction by the Superior Court for acts of slander or libel shall result in a sentence of no more than a one month ban from holding office in the Mideast or a two month ban from voting in official elections in the Mideast.

[Purple State]

I hear both of your points. Would this version be more acceptable?

Libel and Slander Penalization Act

1. It shall hereby be illegal in the Mideast region to falsely and publicly slander or libel the name of another member of the region.
2. Slander shall be defined as harmful statements in a transitory form, especially speech, used for no express purpose beyond insult or injury.
3. Libel shall be defined as harmful statements in a fixed medium, especially writing but also a picture, sign, or electronic broadcast, used for no express purpose beyond insult or injury.
4. Clause 2 and Clause 3 of this Act shall not be read to limit slander or libel to the listed mediums of defamation.
5. Conviction by the Superior Court for acts of slander or libel shall result in a sentence of no more than a one month ban from holding office in the Mideast or a two month ban from voting in official elections in the Mideast.


I think that most average citizens can tell the purpose of certain claims on the forum. While claiming that someone has hacked your account may not be provable beyond a reasonable doubt by an Atlasia justice, it is clear that certain insults are used to simply harm the image of a member and have no basis in truth or fact. That is what I want this to cover. Yes there are those cases that just cannot be determined, but this law would go a long way to adding a renewed atmosphere of civility around here.

I also just included the "publicly" provision to prevent people from pulling PMs for something like this.

[Purple State]

I was thinking "in the Mideast region" would be considered between any two members of the region. The wording could perhaps be clarified and I will make sure to include that in the final bill.

I would propose this with the understanding that proving such a case may, at times, be quite difficult. However, the resolution of this question will be answered two-fold: first by our discussion here and second by judicial precedent that will eventually come to be.

It is oftentimes clear that there is no purpose other than insult behind much of the bickering that goes on here. If a mod states that someone is not Xahar after people accuse them of being Xahar (likely knowing full will it isn't him) that would be covered. So too would calling someone a rapist, etc. I use recent examples like those because they are on-hand and I can think of them right now, but surely there are numerous examples.

Here is a new version of the bill, trying to take into consideration much of what has been mentioned.

Libel and Slander Penalization Act

1. It shall hereby be illegal for a member of the Mideast region to falsely and publicly slander or libel the name of another member of the region within the Atlas Fantasy Boards.
2. Slander shall be defined as harmful statements in a transitory form, especially speech, used for no express purpose beyond insult or injury.
3. Libel shall be defined as harmful statements in a fixed medium, especially writing but also a picture, sign, or electronic broadcast, used for no express purpose beyond insult or injury.
4. Clause 2 and Clause 3 of this Act shall not be read to limit slander or libel to the listed mediums of defamation.
5. Conviction by the Superior Court for acts of slander or libel shall result in a sentence of no more than a one month ban from holding office in the Mideast or a two month ban from voting in official elections in the Mideast.


Again, while it may not be clear what "express purpose beyond insult or injury" really means or covers legally, I would recommend that the discretion of the justice be used. To lay some assembly floor precedent, arguing that a citizen's position on an issue or one's candidacy for office is absurd for numerous reasons would, generally, be acceptable in the course of productive discourse. However, if insults are used in which baseless or unwarranted claims are made, such as "Don't vote for ______ because he's a satanist who drinks baby blood," then this measure would go into effect. Of course, part of lawmaking is leaving it up to the discretion of the courts.