Voting System Reform Commission

[Emsworth]

All necessary appointments having been made, the Voting System Reform Commission has been formed. It consists of the following members:

Emsworth (Vice President)
Wildcard (Governor of the Pacific Region)
KEmperor (Chief Justice)
ILikeVerin (Secretary of Forum Affairs)
Peter Bell (Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs)
Gabu (President pro tempore)
True Independent (Senator)
Sam Spade (Senator)
Colin Wixted (Senator)

I suggest that our first order of business should be the election of a Chairman.

[True Democrat]

I would like to nominate Emsworth because of his great leadership and organization skills in the Senate.

[Peter]

I would like to "run" for the position of Chairman. If in order, I nominate myself.

[Colin]

Excuse me but I believe that I was put on that commission after MHS gave his position to me. If this was not legal or could not happen then please say so but otherwise I believe he gave up his spot so that I could be on the commission.

[Emsworth]

Excuse me but I believe that I was put on that commission after MHS gave his position to me. If this was not legal or could not happen then please say so but otherwise I believe he gave up his spot so that I could be on the commission.

Sorry; that was just an error on my part.

I nominate Peter Bell to be Chairman. I thank Sen. True Independent for the nomination; however, I already have plenty of work with the Senate.

[True Democrat]

Excuse me but I believe that I was put on that commission after MHS gave his position to me. If this was not legal or could not happen then please say so but otherwise I believe he gave up his spot so that I could be on the commission.

Sorry; that was just an error on my part.

I nominate Peter Bell to be Chairman.

In that case, I withdraw my nomination.

[Colin]

Excuse me but I believe that I was put on that commission after MHS gave his position to me. If this was not legal or could not happen then please say so but otherwise I believe he gave up his spot so that I could be on the commission.

Sorry; that was just an error on my part.

I nominate Peter Bell to be Chairman.

I second that nomination. Peter Bell showed his amazing legal acumen during the Constitutional Convention as Secretary and his vast knowledge of the current Atlasian electoral system would make him the best man for this position.

[Sam Spade]

I shall also support Peter Bell for chairman of this commission.

[ilikeverin]

What everyone else is saying.

[Emsworth]

It would appear that a majority of the Commission has supported Peter Bell. If there is no objection, let us consider him elected Chairman.

Does any commissioner wish that there be any other position? I think that we ought to have a Vice Chairman or Secretary to preside in the Chairman's absence.

[Colin]

It would appear that a majority of the Commission has supported Peter Bell. If there is no objection, let us consider him elected Chairman.

Does any commissioner wish that there be any other position? I think that we ought to have a Vice Chairman or Secretary to preside in the Chairman's absence.

I believe their should be a Vice Chairman and a Secretary in order for the commission to work to the fullest of potential.

[The Dowager Mod]

What a load of crap.

[Emsworth]

What a load of crap.

Thank you for your very constructive criticism. Seriously, what would you suggest? Just arbitrarily picking any voting system some Senator happens to suggest?

[Gabu]

I believe their should be a Vice Chairman and a Secretary in order for the commission to work to the fullest of potential.

Do we really need to delegate that many positions?  What would the secretary do?

All we really need is one person to organize and conduct the whole thing.  If Peter becomes absent, we can always just pick someone else at that time.

[Emsworth]

All we really need is one person to organize and conduct the whole thing.  If Peter becomes absent, we can always just pick someone else at that time.

That's perfectly acceptable to me.

[The Dowager Mod]

What a load of crap.

Thank you for your very constructive criticism. Seriously, what would you suggest? Just arbitrarily picking any voting system some Senator happens to suggest?

No i was refering to the fact that the usual good old boys got picked for the "commission"

[Emsworth]

What a load of crap.

Thank you for your very constructive criticism. Seriously, what would you suggest? Just arbitrarily picking any voting system some Senator happens to suggest?

No i was refering to the fact that the usual good old boys got picked for the "commission"

Ah, my apologies: the context was unclear.

As to the membership:
- The Chief Justice is automatically a member under the original law (perfectly legitimate -- there could be constitutional issues involved, and the judicial branch should be included for balance)
- The Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Forum Affairs are automatically members as well (once again, perfectly legitimate -- the executive branch should be represented, and this is within the province of the Department of Forum Affairs)

As to the appointed members:
- The four Senators on the Commission were the only ones willing to serve

So that only leaves Wildcard and me as true appointees to the Commission.

[The Dowager Mod]

This is why i tried to get things changed in the bill.
Nothing good will come of this because everyone on the commission with the exception of KEmperor potentially has something to lose.

[ilikeverin]

This is why i tried to get things changed in the bill.
Nothing good will come of this because everyone on the commission with the exception of KEmperor potentially has something to lose.

?

[Colin]

This is why i tried to get things changed in the bill.
Nothing good will come of this because everyone on the commission with the exception of KEmperor potentially has something to lose.

I have nothing to lose. Seriously I'm on the fence about running in October and I'm not going to pander to people just to get re-elected I will state my opinions and my ideas on voting reform. If they want a politician who will pander to them and can't take a crap without asking his constituents whether he may go to the bathroom then they can kick me out if they want. I got nothin' to lose.

[Gabu]

This is why i tried to get things changed in the bill.
Nothing good will come of this because everyone on the commission with the exception of KEmperor potentially has something to lose.

I have nothing to lose. Seriously I'm on the fence about running in October and I'm not going to pander to people just to get re-elected I will state my opinions and my ideas on voting reform. If they want a politician who will pander to them and can't take a crap without asking his constituents whether he may go to the bathroom then they can kick me out if they want. I got nothin' to lose.

Completely objectively speaking, I don't exactly see any way we could twist and distort our voting system to make it so that I could lose re-election, so I don't really have anything to lose.

[Colin]

This is why i tried to get things changed in the bill.
Nothing good will come of this because everyone on the commission with the exception of KEmperor potentially has something to lose.

I have nothing to lose. Seriously I'm on the fence about running in October and I'm not going to pander to people just to get re-elected I will state my opinions and my ideas on voting reform. If they want a politician who will pander to them and can't take a crap without asking his constituents whether he may go to the bathroom then they can kick me out if they want. I got nothin' to lose.

Completely objectively speaking, I don't exactly see any way we could twist and distort our voting system to make it so that I could lose re-election, so I don't really have anything to lose.

Well your baby eating past could come out and the FEC could put you on its hit list. Oh I've said too much.

[Gabu]

This is why i tried to get things changed in the bill.
Nothing good will come of this because everyone on the commission with the exception of KEmperor potentially has something to lose.

I have nothing to lose. Seriously I'm on the fence about running in October and I'm not going to pander to people just to get re-elected I will state my opinions and my ideas on voting reform. If they want a politician who will pander to them and can't take a crap without asking his constituents whether he may go to the bathroom then they can kick me out if they want. I got nothin' to lose.

Completely objectively speaking, I don't exactly see any way we could twist and distort our voting system to make it so that I could lose re-election, so I don't really have anything to lose.

Well your baby eating past could come out and the FEC could put you on its hit list. Oh I've said too much.

OH NOES

[Peter]

This is why i tried to get things changed in the bill.
Nothing good will come of this because everyone on the commission with the exception of KEmperor potentially has something to lose.

I assure you that I will do my utmost to ensure that the report that this Commission produces will reflect what we genuinely believe to be in the best interests of Atlasia. Given that I will likely not run for office again, I have no hidden agenda in trying to install one preferred electoral system.

I would like to thank my fellow Commission members for the confidence they have shown in me, and to VP Emsworth for nominating me as Chair. I hope I serve you well.

I suppose we best get started: First of all I will outline how I would like the Commission to consider its subject matter.

We have been given a mandate to review the proposal for secret voting, wherein voters will have the choice of voting secretly during the allotted voting time. We are also to review the present electoral system and alternatives to it, and to decide whether a change will benefit Atlasia.

I am minded to consider these subjects separately: Because I feel that consideration of the electoral system will take longer (and will probably elicit more minority reports), I have decided that we will first of all review secret voting. Once we have considered what we need to, then we will have a short recess from taking public evidence whilst a report is produced and published. Then we will move onto a consideration of the electoral system.

I have already broken the subject of secret voting down into what I consider to be managable blocks. I will generally post a title and a list of questions: One need not answer all of these, they are simply thought provoking and responses of a more general scope are perfectably acceptable.

Consideration of each block should take no more than 2 or 3 days; Once this is over, I will move onto the next section unless it is clear debate has not concluded. Some blocks will overlap, do not hesitate to discuss them as such.

[Peter]

So here's my first set of thought provoking questions:

Secret Voting

Constitutional Concerns

"All elections to the [Presidency/Senate] shall be by public post" - Art I, Sec 4, Clause 6 and Art II, Sec 2, Clause 2

What exactly does this mean?

Is an Amendment to the Constitution necessary to ensure that Secret Voting is constitutional?

If so, what form should it take?
P.S. If anybody wants to call witnesses, feel free. I'll try to chase them up if they don't show.