Northeast Assembly Thread

[Lincoln Republican]

Except, we're not a "normal democracy."  This is the Internet.

True, however, this is an internet simulation, and we try to simulate real life situations, in the case of Atlasy Fantasy Elections and Atlas Fantasy Governments, real life political situations.

[Free Palestine]

Except, we're not a "normal democracy."  This is the Internet.

True, however, this is an internet simulation, and we try to simulate real life situations, in the case of Atlasy Fantasy Elections and Atlas Fantasy Governments, real life political situations.

Also true.  After all, there aren't that many forests on the Internet.

[Simfan34]

I would like to state my opposition to this bill. The nature of our system means that being an informed voter is more difficult than it would be... offline.

[Napoleon]

That is one of the weirdest and ultimately ridiculous arguments against this bill that could be presented, ever.

In real life you don't interact with candidates, have open access to all legislative debate, etc. It's way easier to be informes in Atlasia. I also fail to see why we should give uninformed voters leeway to edit their ballots because they were too uninformed (dumb?) to think about their voting before, well, actually voting.

[tpfkaw]

Someone who's thinking enough about their vote to realize they want to change it is generally thinking far more than someone who merely copies and pastes from Bgwah's PM.

(Oh no, I just exposed this ridiculous, partisan effort for what it is!)

[homelycooking]

Time for debate has expired. Members will vote on the amended language of the bill, which its sponsor has accepted.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

This vote will last 24 hours.

[tpfkaw]

Nay

[Napoleon]

Someone who's thinking enough about their vote to realize they want to change it is generally thinking far more than someone who merely copies and pastes from Bgwah's PM.

(Oh no, I just exposed this ridiculous, partisan effort for what it is!)

No one in this thread copies bgwah's PMs and I'm sure Governor Winfield's efforts will help the Rockefeller Republican Party significantly (no offense, Governor ).

[homelycooking]

Someone who's thinking enough about their vote to realize they want to change it is generally thinking far more than someone who merely copies and pastes from Bgwah's PM.

(Oh no, I just exposed this ridiculous, partisan effort for what it is!)

No one in this thread copies bgwah's PMs and I'm sure Governor Winfield's efforts will help the Rockefeller Republican Party significantly (no offense, Governor ).

Time for debate has ended, Senator. We are voting now.

Aye on the bill.

[Free Palestine]

Nein

[Cincinnatus]

Aye on the bill

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

Aye.

[homelycooking]

On the previous question the ayes are three, the nays are two. The bill is passed.

The Assembly will now consider the following bill, proposed by the honorable member from Connecticut:

Ballot Standardization Act

1. The Chief Judicial Officer of the Northeast is hereby authorized to open a voting booth for any and all Northeast Regional regular and special elections.

2. Any other official of the Northeast, including and limited to the Governor, Lt. Governor and members of the Assembly, are hereby authorized to open a voting booth for any and all Northeast Regional regular and special elections only if:
a. The Chief Judicial Officer declares a leave of absence encompassing the first day of the election, or otherwise states publicly his inability to open the polls on time; or
b. The Chief Judicial Officer does not open the polls one hour after an election's constitutionally or legally mandated start time.


3. The post with which the authorized opener of a voting booth begins the election must contain the following text before the listing of candidates running for office, with the bracketed items correctly filled in:

"As [name of authorized poll-opening officer], I hereby declare this polling place open.

This is the Northeast regional polling booth for the scheduled [name of election].  In this polling place, Northeast citizens are electing [names of offices up for election].

Votes for offices in this region are cast using PR-STV.  Voters who wish to preference more than one candidate should allocate a first preference for a candidate by marking a [1] in the space provided by that candidate's name, and proceeding to number as many preferences as they desire by marking a [2], [3], etc for as many candidates as they so desire.

A vote will be counted so long as the voter that casts it is eligible to vote in this election and casts  a formal ballot. A vote is formal so long as it contains numbered preferences with no duplicate numbers. A ballot containing Roman Numerals is not considered informal. A ballot in which candidates have been ranked a,b,c, etc is not considered informal so long as no letter has been repeated, and so long as a single candidate has been ranked a, for as long as the letters are consecutive with no duplicate letters. A ballot is formal if the CJO can determine the intent of the voter without interviewing that voter.

Per past practice, write-in votes are only counted for a candidate if he or she publicly declares a willingness to receive write-in votes for a particular office in the [name of election] before the polls close in the Candidate Declaration Thread or writes in his or her own name on the ballot for that particular office.

Votes for "NOTA" or "None of the Above" for any office are formal regardless of the preference assigned to it. Should a voter preference "NOTA" as well as other candidates, only his vote for "NOTA" will be counted.

This booth shall remain open until [time prescribed for the closing of the polls]."

4. Candidates shall have printed on the ballot certain basic information, limited to the following:
a. their full usernames and display names as of the time of the opening of the polls, should they differ from their usernames;
b. the name of the political party to which they belong, or the affiliation "Independent" in its place should a candidate not belong to a political party;
c. the name of the state in which they reside.

5. All information printed on a ballot must pertain immediately to the election at hand and may not contain solicitation, propaganda, or hyperlinks to other pages.

6. Absentee ballots need not contain all of the information mandated in sections 3 and 4, though it must be provided by the Chief Judicial Officer upon request to an absentee elector at any time beginning one week before the election.

7. An opening post that does not abide by the above clauses of this act inaugurates an election that shall not be recognized as the legitimate voice of the people of the Northeast and shall be rendered null and void.

Debate will last 48 hours.

[homelycooking]

Now I recognize that this is a huge bill and there may be certain sections that might be objectionable to certain people. I am completely willing to amend it so long as the amendments offered retain the spirit of organized, efficient and standardized elections in which I penned this piece of legislation.

[Napoleon]

The NOTA provision needs amended so that candidates preferred to NOTA can have those votes counted in their favor.

[Lincoln Republican]

What's with the name calling, Senator?

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

The NOTA provision needs amended so that candidates preferred to NOTA can have those votes counted in their favor.

Also, most of this seems to already be in place.

[homelycooking]

What's with the name calling, Senator?

I think he's referring to Governor Dannel Malloy of Connecticut.

The NOTA provision needs amended so that candidates preferred to NOTA can have those votes counted in their favor.

Voting in that way seems somewhat self-contradictory. If a candidate is preferenced before "None of the Above", wouldn't counting a vote for NOTA as well void all of the above candidates that he voted for? I understand why you are looking for this change, and I might agree to it, but I favor a strict interpretation of those words, none of the above, no matter what preference it receives or who is preferenced before or after.

[Napoleon]

What's with the name calling, Senator?

Oooops, not you buddy

And Mr. Speaker, I understand what you are trying to do regarding NOTA, I just don't know if it will work in practice.

[homelycooking]

I just don't know if it will work in practice.

Do you mean that voters will be unfairly disenfranchised?

[Napoleon]

I just don't know if it will work in practice.

Do you mean that voters will be unfairly disenfranchised?

Yes. I appreciate your attempts to make our democracy more serious but I fear that if we make our system too complex, the effects would be destructive. But feel free to argue that this concern is unwarranted. I'm listening. Just chiming in as a constituent.

[homelycooking]

OK, this concern is unwarranted.

I believe that because votes for NOTA are quite rare (since I've been in the Northeast, the only person I've known to cast a vote for NOTA in a regional election is myself), and I am certain that the vast majority of voters understand the implications of voting NOTA and do it only when they are wholly disgusted with all of the candidates. People vote NOTA as a last resort, after they've reviewed all the choices and decide that not a single one is for them. Casting votes for a candidate and for that option which registers ultimate disdain for all candidates is nonsensical, and I think the law should recognize it.

[Napoleon]

I'm thinking about it like this:

1) Napoleon.     This voter prefers Napoleon out of all candidates
2) belgiansocialist.       This voter prefers belgiansocialist out of the remaining candidates
3) NOTA.                                   This voter prefers to elect NOTA out of the remaining candidates

I see what you are saying though.

[homelycooking]

I'm thinking about it like this:

1) Napoleon.     This voter prefers Napoleon out of all candidates
2) belgiansocialist.       This voter prefers belgiansocialist out of the remaining candidates
3) NOTA.                                   This voter prefers to elect NOTA out of the remaining candidates

I see what you are saying though.

All right, I understand. I'm not entirely convinced that people vote this way, but the fact that they could is reason enough to give that measure a second thought.

[Cincinnatus]

I have no problem with this bill and will be voting Aye.  I also wouldn't have a problem if you clarify the NOTA, but that won't make or break my affirmative vote