The Region - Southeastern News You Use

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Vol. 3 No. 6

July 25, 2005

[/font]StatesRights Leaves Politics For Good
    In a most unexpected development, Governor StatesRights took office for his half-term and promptly resigned after appointing Bono to be his Lieutenant Governor.  StatesRights indicated that he was leaving Atlasia for parts unknown, but this paper hopes that like several others who have chosen to depart this fair land, he will choose to return.

Bono Becomes Governor, Exits Senate Race
    Atlasia’s own Portugese Man O’ War, Bono, announced after hastily accepting the Governorship that had been left in his lap that he would be ending his campaign for the District 4 Senate seat.  It is unknown at this time if he will campaign to continue in the position he hass unexpectedly found himself in.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Vol. 3 No. 7

August 2, 2005

[/font]Kramer Resigns Senate Seat
    As promised Senator Kramer has resigned his District 4 Senate seat which means that there will be a special election.  There are two announced candidates for the special election to be held this weekend, Harry of Mississippi and Josh22 of North Carolina, while Lt. Gov. Q has indicated that he will run if no “senior statesman” chooses to run.  It ain’t known if Q considers either candidate as filling that qualification.  While both announced candidates are undoubtedly “senior” in terms of their Atlasian experience, their detractors may aledge that they ain’t “statesmen”.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Vol. 3 No. 8

August 5, 2005

[/font]Early Results in District 4 Special Election
    With HTMLDon having thrown his support behind write-in candidate Ben Myers, expectations of a Harry/HTMLDon race have instead become a cakewalk for Harry.

Round 1
6 - Harry (Ind-MS)
2 - Ben Myers (ACA-FL)
1 - HTMLDon (CU-TN)
1 - Josh22 (ACA-NC)

[TomC]

Vol. 3 No. 8

August 5, 2005

[/font]Early Results in District 4 Special Election
    With HTMLDon having thrown his support behind write-in candidate Ben Myers, expectations of a Harry/HTMLDon race have instead become a cakewalk for Harry.

This sounds like htmldon dropped out and endorsed Ben Meyers. I thought don just voted for Ben Meyers first (over himself) because he doesn't vote for himself. He voted for Ben M; he didn't "throw his support to." Isn't this correct?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

If giving another candidate a higher preference than oneself isn't throwing one's support behind him, what is?

[Keystone Phil]

If giving another candidate a higher preference than oneself isn't throwing one's support behind him, what is?

Don told me that he never votes for himself.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

If giving another candidate a higher preference than oneself isn't throwing one's support behind him, what is?

Don told me that he never votes for himself.

But that doesn't mean that he has to vote for the other guys.  A vote for NOTA or with write-ins for Non-Candidates would accomplish the same goal of modesty without giving his opponents even more of an advantage by voting for them instead of oneself.

[Joe Republic]

July 22, 2005

Mideast Democracy Collapses
    Alleging a “comedy of errors”, Mideast Governor Joe Republic cancelled the region’s July elections this morning. In yet a further dictatorial act, he appointed Ben to be the region’s Superior Court Judge despite the legal requirement that he be approved by the voters.  While we hope that the Governor will live up to his name and restore a republican form of government in the Mideast in August as promised, this paper would like to remind its readers in Kentucky and Virginia of the option of joining the Southeast Region’s vibrant democracy should the Governor continue his tyrannical ways.

I've only just noticed this "report", and I would like a retraction, as it's not based on any semblance of fact.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

A bit sensationalist in the reporting perhaps, but I believe that it is accurate as to the facts.

[Joe Republic]

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False.

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True.

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False, although its an argument in semantics.  In my mind, the word "cancel" speaks of a permanent end to the election.  In fact, they were postponed until this this month (this weekend in fact), because that was the only way around our regional constitution.

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This is where the facts are ignored.  As governor of the Mideast, I have had the legal right to pass legislation by executive order since June.  I felt that the position of Court Judge could not remain vacant, so I appointed Ben to that position.  As required by law, Ben's nomination will still be voted on this weekend.  If Ben fails to gain the popular vote, his appointment (and the executive order) will automatically be terminated.  It was hardly a 'dictatorial act' in the way that you imply.

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Voting on last month's propositions and initiatives will begin tonight at midnight.  I'm unhappy at the way that you imply that there has effectively been no government at all before now.

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This is pretty rich coming from the Southeast, where federal laws are apparently free to be nullified, and innocent civilians put in prison without charge (Harry).

[King]

Oh yeah?  According to paragraph 7, sentence 3, word 8 of the Geneva Conventions: "the."  So, tough luck, Joe!!!

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

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This is pretty rich coming from the Southeast, where federal laws are apparently free to be nullified, and innocent civilians put in prison without charge (Harry).

IIRC, Harry was placed in protective custody for his own good  and one can hardly claim that the Southeast's politics have not been vibrant and exciting, and despite several contentious disputes over the balloting, we've never had an election cancelled (or postponed if you prefer) for a whole month.

[Joe Republic]

There's still a big difference.  Did my actions almost spark a civil war in Atlasia?  Given the choices that the Mideastern and Southeastern governments have provided in recent history, I know what sensible citizens of KY and VA would prefer.

[Jake]

Unopposed elections? Wait, sorry, opebo ran against you last time.

[Joe Republic]

Unopposed elections? Wait, sorry, opebo ran against you last time.

Yes, that's right.  To my knowledge, the Mideast has never had an unopposed election.  What's your point?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Vol. 3 No. 9

September 18, 2005

[/font]Preliminary Referendum Results
    With 13 ballots cast, a day to go, and 8 voters left to cast a ballot should they choose, here are the current reuilts:

54: 7-6
56: 10-2-1
59: 6-7
60: 9-4
61: 6-7
62: 6-4-3
63: 4-8-1
64: 6-6-1
65: 9-4
66: 8-4-1
67: 12-1
68: 5-8
69: 7-6
70: 8-4-1
71: 6-6-1
72: 9-4

Initiatives 54, 56, 60, 61, and 72 are constitutional amendments and as such will require either a 3/5 majority of the vote or a majority of the voters to be approved.

Barring a court challenge, Initiative 67, the Protection of Commerce in Arms Initiative, has passed regardless of how the remaining voters decide.

The Region at this point projects Initiatives 56, 65, and 67 to pass and Initiatives 61 and 63 to fail.

Law of Unintended Consequences
With Initiative 66: The Pro-Informed Choice Initiative looking likely to pass, which requires those seeking an abortion to have an ultrasound, you might expect C. U. Sooner, president of the Inner Womb chain of ultrasound facilities to be pleased.  Far from it. “The initiative requires abortion clinics to have ultrasound machines of their own, so I'm going to lose out three ways.  First of all, all those new machines are going to take away from existing business from those who are already having an ultrasound before considering abortion.  Second, it won't make sense for those new  machines to lie idle, so it stands to reason that they're going to seek to provide ultrasounds to those who aren't seeking abortions, further hurting my business.  Finally, there may be a few nutcases who think that because my facilities provide ultrasounds, they provide abortions.  I've already been told by my current property insurer that they plan to raise my rates if the initiative passes because of that.  Still, I expect I'll roll with the punches. One possible solution to my problem is, since I'll be stuck with the costs any way, to go ahead and turn my chain into full service pre-natal clinics that offer 1st trimester abortions to those who want them.”

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Vol. 3 No. 10

September 18, 2005

[/font]Preliminary Referendum Results
    With 14 ballots cast, 15 hours to go, and 7 voters left to cast a ballot should they choose, here are the current reuilts:

54: 7-6-1
56: 10-3-1
59: 7-7
60: 10-4
61: 6-8
62: 6-5-3
63: 4-9-1
64: 6-6-2
65: 9-5
66: 9-4-1
67: 13-1
68: 5-9
69: 8-6
70: 9-4-1
71: 7-6-1
72: 10-4

Initiatives 54, 56, 60, 61, and 72 are constitutional amendments and as such will require either a 3/5 majority of the vote or a majority of the voters to be approved.

Barring a court challenge, Initiative 67, the Protection of Commerce in Arms Initiative, has passed regardless of how the remaining voters decide.

The Region at this point projects Initiatives 56, 65, 66, 67, and 70 to pass while Initiatives 61, 63, and 68 are projected to fail.  Initiatives 54, 59, 60, 62, 64, 71, and 72 are all too close to call, but we expect the amendments could be callable as soon as the next vote cast.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Vol. 3 No. 11

September 19, 2005

[/font]Final Referendum Results
    With 17 ballots cast, here are the reuiltsof the September referendum elections:

54: 10-6-1
56: 13-3-1
59: 9-8
60: 11-5-1
61: 7-9-1
62: 8-6-3
63: 7-9-1
64: 6-8-3
65: 10-7
66: 11-5-1
67: 15-2
68: 6-11
69: 11-6
70: 11-5-1
71: 8-8-1
72: 12-5

Initiatives 54, 56, 60, 61, and 72 are constitutional amendments and as such required either a 3/5 majority of the vote or a majority of the voters to be approved.

Constitutional Stability
    Despite not receiving a large enough margin to pass if it had already been in place, with 62.5% of the vote, the voters approved Initiative 54, requiring that future constitutional amendments receive a 2/3 majority.

Election Law Changes
    The voters approved several changes in the election laws this month.  Besides requiring a 2/3 majority on future constitutional amendments, the current election regulations were enshrined in our constitution by Initiative 56, an independent voter's roll was established by initiative 70, and initiatives were required to be on a single issue by Initiative 72.  Initiative 63, requiring that referendums on Federal amendments be held in sync with our regional elections failed.

Bill of Rights
    Of the two competing versions of a Bill of Rights, only the Bono version, Initiative 60 passed.  Initiative 61 failed to achieve even a simple majority, let alone the 3/5ths margin that would have been required.  However, Initiative 62, calling for a Commission to examine the issue passed which with the passage of Initiative 60 will issue its recommendations in the form an amendment to that amendment.

Criminal Law
    The voters rejected abolishing the death penalty, but did approve Initiative 65 which while greatly increasing the minimum punishment for certain crimes, also ruled out the death penalty in such cases.

Abortion Restrictions
    Voters approved Initiative 66 calling for additional impediments on abortion.  However, reports indicate that several cases using the new Bill of Rights are in the works to overturn various aspects of this law and other laws restricting abortion.

Gun Laws
    Initiative 70, gave gun manufactures concrete protection against most lawsuits beyond those provided in a more general fashion by previous Southeastern tort reform efforts. However, with a tie vote, Initiative 71, revising the concealed carry laws shall be back on the ballot in October.

Affirmative Action No More
    Initiative 69, calling for the ending of any affirmative action was passed decisively.

Day of Rest Retained
     Opponents can now relax, for efforts to repeal the Day of Rest Initiative were handily defeated.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Vol. 3 No. 12

April 20, 2006

Senate Election Results
    With 28 ballots cast, here are the current results of the April Senate elections, through Josh 22:

In District 1, Nixon Now is narrowly leading incumbent Earl Andrew Washburn by 3 to 2 is the second round after the single vote for MAS117 is eliminated in the first round.

In District 2, Virginian 87 is winning in the first round with 3 of 5 votes cast.  Colin Wixted would at this moment have 2 votes, but could lose 1 if Bullmoose88 decided to accept write-in votes.

The District 3 race mirrors that of Distrct 2, as PBrunsel is winning is also winning in the first round with 3 of 5 votes cast, and ilikeverin has 2 votes, but could lose 1 if Jas accepts write-ins.

The Region is projecting Democratic 'Hawk' to win relection as District 4 Senator, given his comfortable 7 to 1 margin over Mike Naso.

District 5 has some early controversy, with a vote invalidated and heading to a court challenge.  Gabu has a 2 to 1 lead over Mr. Hobbes, with the disputed ballot going to Mr. Hobbes.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Vol. 3 No. 13

April 21, 2006

Senate Election Results
    With 38 ballots cast, here are the current results of the April Senate elections, thru John Dibble:

Senator Earl Andrew Washburn narrowly leads challenger Nixo Now by a margin of 4 to 3 is the second round after the single vote for MAS117 is eliminated in the first round.

In District 2, Virginian 87 is winning in the first round with 3 of 5 votes cast.  Colin Wixted would at this moment have 2 votes, but could lose 1 if Bullmoose88 decided to accept write-in votes.

The District 3 race would be headed to a runoff between ilikeverin and PBrunsel if the election were over now.

The Region is projecting Democratic 'Hawk' to win relection as District 4 Senator, given that of 11 votes cast he has 9 first preferences.  Challenger Mike Naso has already given a concession speech.

District 5 has had a vote invalidated and heading to a court challenge, but indications are that the court will likely invoke Independent Liberal Party v. Department of Forum Affairs and uphold the invalidation.  Gabu has a 5 to 2 lead over Mr. Hobbes, with the disputed ballot going to Mr. Hobbes.

[TomC]

District 5 has had a vote invalidated and heading to a court challenge, but indications are that the court will likely invoke Independent Liberal Party v. Department of Forum Affairs and uphold the invalidation. 

Nothing has been decided by any means. I have asked questions to get True Democrat to explain his case. Two justices have not weighed in on the matter at this point.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Did I say it had been decided?  No, I said that it was likely to be decided in one way.  Besides this paper officially has nothing to do with the Department of Forum Affairs.

[JR]

Anything major, or simply interesting, besides elections happening in the South East?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Not that I have time to write stories for.