Voting System Reform Bill

[Emsworth]

Voting System Reform Bill

Preamble

Whereas, the current system of preferential voting used for federal elections has been called into question,

Whereas, there are several potential alternative systems that could be used instead,

The Senate hereby recognizes the need for a discussion on reforming the current system of voting.

Section 1 - Forming a Commission

1. The Administration and Senate will jointly form a Commission, that will address the issue of reforming the voting system.

2. The President will appoint the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs, and two Atlasian citizens who do not currently hold federal office, to join the Commission.

3. The President Pro Tempore (PPT) will appoint two senators (including himself if he wishes), and two Atlasian citizens who do not currently hold federal office (and are not the same citizens appointed by the President), to join the Commission.

4. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court will also be a member of the Commission.

4. The members of the Commission will decide among themselves who will chair the Commission, by any means they see fit.

Section 2 - The role of the Commission

1. The Commission will discuss any and all systems of voting that they feel would be appropriate for use in Atlasian federal elections, including the current system of preferential voting.

2. The Commission may conduct these discussions in any way that they see fit.

Section 3 - Report

1. Once the Commission has reached a conclusive decision that meets the approval of the majority of its members, the Chairman will report the findings to the Senate.  The report will state which system(s) of voting they recommend for use in Atlasian federal elections.

2. Once the Chairman has delivered his report, the Commission will disband.
Sponsor: Sen. MasterJedi

[Emsworth]

Are we still going to be debating the Secret Ballot Procedure Bill? 

The twenty-four hour voting period is still in effect, I'm afraid.

[Emsworth]

I fully support Sen. Colin Wixted's suggestion.

[Emsworth]

I agree with Colin here.

Since the secret ballot is probably unconstitutional, would it be easier to propose an amendment to just remove the phrase in the Constitution about public posting, or should we just make the whole secret ballot bill a Constitutional amendment in itself?

If we make the whole bill an amendment, I'm afraid that further changes, even minor ones, would be very difficult to make. It would probably be simpler just to pass the amendment first, and then worry about exact details in legislation later.

[Emsworth]

I suggested earlier that the President has no choice to make in which executive officers he appoints. He is forced by the bill to appoint the SoFA and Deputy SoFA.

I would suggest that the SoFA gets an automatic seat, and that the President may appoint any two executive officers to the Commission.

[Emsworth]

3. The Commission shall also discuss the creation of the option of secret ballots in federal elections and all necessary procedures dealing with the creation of such an option.

The question is on the Wixted Amendment. All those in favor, say Aye; those opposed, say No (or Nay, if you like).

[Emsworth]

There have voted:
Aye: 5
No: 0

The amendment to the bill has passed.

[Emsworth]

I personally feel that Version 2 is better than 1. The commission called for by V1 seems a bit too large; also, V2 takes into account the fact that some private citizens may wish to participate. 

[Emsworth]

Sen. Colin, could you pick one version on which we can have a vote? The Senate rules do not seem to make provision for alternative versions of the same amendment; in any case, I think that picking one version would make everything much simpler.

[Emsworth]

Well first I would like people's opinion of which one is better. That is why I proposed two versions in the first place because I could not decide between the two. If that is all right with you.

Okay, that's fine then. I doubt that anyone will object; so I will hold an informal, non-binding vote for the Senate.

Rank the following in order of preference:
[ ] Version 1
[ ] Version 2
[ ] The current version

[Emsworth]

The popular opinion seems to be that the current version is best, and that version 2 is better than 1. Would Sen. Colin like me to open a vote on version 2, or would he wish to drop the amendment?

[Emsworth]

The question is on Version 2 of the Wixted Amendment. All those in favor, say Aye; those opposed, say No.

[Emsworth]

Vote tally so far:

2-Aye
3-Nay
2-Abstain

Cosmo Kramer has indicated that he is absent; FuturePrez is assumed to be absent. Both are also assumed to have abstained. Thus, only PBrunsel is left to vote.

[Emsworth]

PBRUNSEL VOTE NAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

You obviously do not have any confidence in your Vice President.

[Emsworth]

PBRUNSEL VOTE NAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

You obviously do not have any confidence in your Vice President.

Heh, I'd just rather not have a tie in the first place, makes it run more smoothly IMO.

I would be very disappointed if I never get a chance to break a tie during my term.

[Emsworth]

The Ayes are 2, the Noes are 4. The Wixted Amendment fails.

[Emsworth]

I would like to propose another amendment to Section 1 if you deem it not frivolous.

A ruling would depend on the text of the amendment.

[Emsworth]

FuturePrez is assumed to be absent.

On what basis?

I have decided to assume that a Senator who goes missing for a significant period of time without leaving an explanation shall be deemed to be absent.

[Emsworth]

The question is on the Wixted Amendment. All those in favor, say Aye; those opposed, say No.

[Emsworth]

A quorum has failed to vote though, the measure must fail.

The Senate rules provide that Senators who have been sworn in, but who have not voted, are deemed to have abstained.

In any event, the Constitution provides: "The Senate shall have fulfilled a quorum if a majority of its members are capable of discharging their offices and sworn into office. A quorum of Senators shall have voted on any Resolution, Bill, Impeachment or Constitutional Amendment for it to be considered valid." It does not refer to motions or amendments to bills.

[Emsworth]

Plus, as Emsworth pointed out, a quorum is not (explicitly) needed for amendments to bills.

And, even then, the rules are clear: "Any and all Senators who do not vote will be considered to have abstained."

[Emsworth]

Yes, but that says nothing about the number of senators you need; a quorum generally refers to a majority of the total number of members in something.

I know that it says nothing about the quorum; however, it does have an affect on the quorum. By saying that those who have not cast a vote have abstained, the rules say, in effect, that every Senator's default vote is "Abstain." If you do not explicitly vote Aye or No, then you count as an "Abstain" for all purposes, including quorums, under this rule.

[Emsworth]

Yes... but I'm not sure what your point is.  Senators who don't vote are counted as having abstained, but there's a difference as far as quorums go between stating that you abstain and simply not voting.  It seems to me that if we simply count everyone as having voted "abstain", then the concept of reaching quorum is entirely meaningless and that there'd be no reason to have that in the Constitution.

I don't comment on whether I support it or not, but that is, I believe, the effect of the rules.

[Emsworth]

The bill as it currently stands:
Voting System Reform Bill

Preamble

Whereas, the current system of preferential voting used for federal elections has been called into question,

Whereas, there are several potential alternative systems that could be used instead,

The Senate hereby recognizes the need for a discussion on reforming the current system of voting.

Section 1 - Forming a Commission

I have a second amendment to Section 1 to put forward:

1. The Administration and Senate will jointly form a Commission, that will address the issue of reforming the voting system.

2. This said commission will be composed of:
(a) Four Senators who will be chosen by the entirity of the Senate to serve on the commission; one of the said Senators must be the current sitting President Pro Tempore of the Senate,
(b) The Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs,
(c) The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court,
(d) Two Atlasian citizens who currently do not hold any of the above included positions both of whom will be nominated by the President with the consent of the Senate President Pro Tempore.

3. Commission members may vote at any time to add more members to the commission or to expel commission members as they deem necessary.

4. The members of the Commission will decide among themselves who will chair the Commission, by any means they see fit.

Section 2 - The role of the Commission

1. The Commission will discuss any and all systems of voting that they feel would be appropriate for use in Atlasian federal elections, including the current system of preferential voting.

2. The Commission will have the right to call before it any member of Atlasia to produce testimony before this said Commission. The Commission will set procedure for calling Atlasians to tesify as well as questioning procedures.

3. The Commission shall also discuss the creation of the option of secret ballots in federal elections and all necessary procedures dealing with the creation of such an option.

4. The Commission may conduct these discussions in any way that they see fit.

Section 3 - Report

1. Once the Commission has reached a conclusive decision that meets the approval of the majority of its members, the Chairman will report the findings to the Senate.  The report will state which system(s) of voting they recommend for use in Atlasian federal elections.

2. Once the Chairman has delivered his report, the Commission will disband.

[Emsworth]

The bureocracy in this house is amazing. How is it possible that you're still voting on the bill, weeks after it was decided to form a comitee.

That is a question you must address to the previous Senate. The current Senate has been considering this bill for only a little longer than a week.